Journey
by fanwriter1245
Summary: Mr. Keating's daughter accompanies him to Welton, and though she is upset about moving and all the strict rules Mr. Nolan gives her, she attempts to just get through the school year. She begins to attend her father's English class during her lunchtime and quickly becomes best friend with the Dead Poets. And unexpectedly, a romance begins to bloom... NeilxOC
1. Chapter 1

Amy sat in the back of the auditorium of Welton Academy with her chin in her hand waiting for the opening ceremony to start. Really starting to get bored, she began admiring the scenery of the place since it was to be her home for an indefinite amount of time.

She then looked at the people around her. Boys of all ages sat in the seats in their uniforms prepared to start their time at the boarding school. Parents sat next to their children in equal excitement and worry. Some of them looked like they couldn't wait to leave their kids behind.

Amy stuck out like a sore thumb. All of the women in attendance were at least in their 30's or 40's. She was the youngest female in the room at age 17. Some of the parents looked at her either condescendingly or curiously, and all of them wanted to know what she was doing at an all-boys school.

Things wouldn't get much better once the parents left and she was still here.

The sound of bagpipes behind her alerted her that the ceremony was finally starting.

She turned to find three boys leading a line of one boy playing the bagpipes, an older gentleman holding a lit candle, and four other boys carrying banners that said 'Tradition', 'Honor', 'Discipline', and 'Excellence'.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys, the light of the knowledge," the headmaster, Mr. Nolan, addressed.

The older gentleman took his candle and lit one of the boys' candles who then passed the flame down the line.

"One hundred years ago, in 1859, forty-one boys sat in this room and were asked the same question that now greets you at the start of each semester. Gentlemen, what are the four pillars?"

All of the boys stood up and said in unison, "Tradition! Honor! Discipline! Excellence!" Then they all resumed sitting.

"In her first year," Mr. Nolan continued, "Welton Academy graduated five students. Last year, we graduated fifty-one, and more than seventy-five percent of those went on to the Ivy League. This kind of accomplishment is the result of fervent dedication to the principles taught here. This is why you parents have been sending your sons. This is why we are the best preparatory school in the United States."

The crowd applauded, and Amy politely joined in.

"As you know, our beloved Mr. Portius of the English Department retired last term. You will have the opportunity later to meet his replacement, Mr. John Keating, himself an honor's graduate of this school and who, for the past several years, has been teaching at the highly regarded Chester School in London."

Amy applauded more brightly as her father stood up to be recognized.

Once the seemingly endless ceremony concluded, Amy quickly met up with her father, ignoring the stares she was getting from all of the older boys around her. It was almost like they had never seen a teenage girl in their lives. For all she knew, that might be true for some of them.

"Amy, we're expected in Mr. Nolan's office," her father said to her once they finally ran into each other. "He has a few things he would like to explain."

"Yes, sir."

The two of them waited by Mr. Nolan's office until he returned from greeting the parents.

"Step inside, Mr. and Miss Keating," the old man said politely.

He went inside and sat at his desk as Amy and her father stood in front of him.

"Now, there are some things I want to address about this whole situation. We have allowed your daughter to accompany you, Mr. Keating, and as such there are some rules she is expected to follow." He looked over at Amy. "You are allowed to stay here with your father at night. But I would like to keep your contact with the boys of this school to a minimum. We can't allow them to be distracted, which is precisely why this is an all-boys school. Their parents pay good money to send their sons here so they can receive a decent education in the best environment possible. You cannot roam the halls freely, and you cannot be on this campus during the daytime. Is all of this understood?"

"Yes, sir," the two of them replied.

"Thank you for allowing me lodging here, Mr. Nolan," Amy said.

"Just don't be of any trouble."

"Yes, sir."

The two of them left the office and started for Mr. Keating's room. While the English teacher's office was small, the room was fairly large and had all of the items one would need to get by.

Amy's room was a few doors down the hallway, and it looked almost the exact same as her father's. There was a small bathroom even further down the hallway she was allowed to use to freshen up.

"Amy," her father called just before she entered her room. "I know you're not too happy about moving here from London, but at least try to make the best of this."

Amy nodded a little. "I will."

She began to unpack her bags and get settled into the room. She put her clothes away in the closet and drawers and got her desk ready for her to do homework on once she started her classes.

This was going to be an interesting next few months.

* * *

The next morning, Amy awoke bright and early, ready to attend her first day at her new school. She put on one of her newer dresses and packed up all her books before leaving Welton, trying her best to avoid as many of the students as best she could. Then she briskly walked down the set path over to Ridgeway High School.

Nervously entering the building, she surveyed the various students and classrooms that she would be around for the next few months.

She put her belongings in her previously assigned locker and then went to her first class of the day. She took a seat next to a blonde girl in the front row.

"Hi! My name's Christine," the girl said to her. "But everyone calls me Chris. You must be new here. I've never seen you around before. What's your name?"

"Amy," she said with a shy smile. "And you're right. I just moved here from London."

"That's so far! Why would you move from London to here?"

"My father just got a job teaching at Welton Academy, and I had to come with him. My parents felt I should get some education from my home country before I graduate."

"So you were born here?"

"Yes. We lived in New York for a while, and then we moved to London once Dad got a job teaching at Chester School. Then when he got a job here, he and my mom agreed that I should come with him. So I attend here while he teaches there."

"That's so cool that you've been able to travel. I've been stuck here my whole life. I wish I could travel and go to London and Paris and all over."

"I'm sure you'll get your chance one day."

At that moment, their teacher came into the classroom, forcing the two girls to cease their conversation.

Once lunchtime rolled around, Amy noticed that a lot of the students left the campus in their cars or on bikes. She went to the lunchroom and grabbed her food before looking around for a place to sit.

"Amy!" she heard.

She looked over and found Chris motioning for her to come sit next to her and some other people.

"This is my boyfriend, Chet," Chris said once Amy had sat across from her. "Chet, this is Amy. And that's Isabella, Marie, and Carolyn."

"Hello," Amy said to the four people, feeling a little overwhelmed at meeting so many people at once.

"Amy just moved here from London."

"Why don't you have an accent then?" Isabella asked.

"I grew up in New York before moving to London," Amy explained. "Now I've moved back here to finish up school and graduate."

"That's so cool."

"Uh, I saw some people leaving. Do they just finish classes early?"

"No," Chris answered. "You may find things a bit different from your other schools, but here, our lunchtime is a bit longer. It's almost an hour long, which we all love. So some people leave and go out to eat or hang out or something."

"That's good to know."

After classes were over for the day, Amy headed to the school library since she couldn't go back to Welton just yet. She sat there and did all of her homework she had gotten assigned that day, but she finished it much too soon for her liking.

So for the next few hours, she found some books and began to read them.

Finally, the sun went down and she felt it was late enough for her to return. She gathered all of her belongings and headed out of the library.

The walk back was extremely intimidating in the dark, but she managed to make it back unscathed.

As she entered the building, she once again tried to make it unseen.

"Are they letting girls attend here now?"

Amy looked over to find a boy slowly coming over to her. She politely smiled at him. "No. I go to Ridgeway."

"So what are you doing here?"

"I stay here at night."

"Why?"

"I'm Mr. Keating's daughter."

"I didn't know he had a daughter."

Amy let out a small laugh. "Well, he does. I'm Amy."

"Neil," the boy said as he shook her hand.

"Uh, I should go. Mr. Nolan made it pretty clear that he doesn't want me interacting with any of the students. I could be a distraction."

"Well, it was nice to meet you."

"You too."

She began to walk away when the boy called to her, "Amy!"

Amy turned back around to look at him.

"Is your father always so…different at home?"

Amy smiled broadly. "Oh, yes."

She continued up to her father's room, smiling to herself.

She liked Neil. And it had been rather refreshing to actually converse with someone in the building besides Mr. Nolan and her father. Unfortunately, she had a feeling that that might be the only time she ever saw him if Mr. Nolan got his way.

"Daddy?" she called, knocking on his door.

"Come in," he said on the other side.

Amy opened the door and came into the room to find her father working on a few lesson plans.

"How was your first day?" he asked her.

"It wasn't bad. I made a couple friends. It was just kind of boring to sit inside the library for hours until it was safe to walk back. How was your day?"

"Very good. I have a few classes to teach during the day. I'm teaching some younger boys in the morning, but then I get to see the older ones in the afternoon."

"What did they think of you?"

"Well, it's a bit early for me to tell. But I think we're all going to get along just fine."

* * *

Amy walked into her classroom the next morning and Chris brightly smiled at her. "Hey, Amy, I heard that you stayed in the library all day after school yesterday. How come?"

"The headmaster at Welton doesn't really want me on the campus during the day so I don't 'distract' any of the boys. So I just killed time in the library until I could go back."

"That doesn't seem fair. He's basically kicking you out of your home."

"It's not my home. It's just a place I'm staying."

"Well, why don't you come out with us after school today? It'll be a lot better than sitting by yourself in the library."

"I don't know…"

"Come on, it'll be fun."

Amy sighed. She didn't want to be the odd one out in a group full of close friends, but it _did_ sound better than just sitting and reading in the library for hours on end.

"Why not?" she smiled.

After school, Amy followed Chris out of the building where the two of them met up with Chet, Isabella, Marie, and Carolyn. They all piled into Chris's car and she drove them down to the ice cream shop.

"We come here all the time," Chris said to Amy. "It has amazing food and it's a great place to sit and talk, not to mention the prices are affordable for us students."

They all sat down at one of the booths and ordered burgers, fries, and shakes.

Amy mainly stayed out of the most of the conversations that took place. While it was awkward for her, she had to admit that it was a lot better than being by herself. At least now she got to have some food.

By the time everyone decided to leave, Amy knew that it was still too early to return to Welton.

"Amy, why don't you come over to my house for a while?" Chris asked. "We can work on some homework together."

"That would be wonderful."

The group said their good-byes and then Chris and Amy got in the car and traveled back to Chris's house.

"Mom!" Chris called. A friendly woman appeared by the door. "This is Amy. We have a couple classes together and decided to work on some homework."

"It's lovely to meet you, Amy," the woman smiled. "You're always welcome here."

"Thank you, ma'am," Amy replied.

Chris and Amy went to the living room and took out their books and began to work on all the required textbook readings and assignments they had due the next day.

"Chris, I'm curious. How did you start dating Chet?"

"Oh, well our families have been friends since forever, so I guess it was bound to happen one day. He's really sweet, and he knows what he wants in life. Have you ever had any boyfriends?"

"No, I was just never interested in anyone. I'm sure I'll find someone someday, but for now, I'm just focusing on graduating."

The two girls spent the next few hours talking and completing their homework until Amy looked outside and realized how dark it had gotten.

"Oh, I should be getting back. Could you give me a ride?"

"Of course!" Chris smiled.

The two of them once again got into her car and Chris drove down to Welton Academy, making sure to park a couple blocks from the campus. Amy knew it wouldn't go over well with Mr. Nolan if two girls were spotted pulling up to the building.

"Thanks for a good time, Chris," Amy said as she got out of the car.

"No trouble! You can always come out with us after school!"

"I'll keep that in mind. See you tomorrow!"

Amy quickly walked into the building, and when she made it up to her father's room, she found herself a bit disappointed that she hadn't seen Neil again. But of course, it was a big school and the odds of crossing paths with him in the short time she was in the hallways were very slim.

"Hi, Daddy," she greeted as she stepped inside. "Anything interesting happen in any of your classes?"

"You'll love this. They are all required to read out of the Pritchard textbook."

"Uh-oh."

"So after I had one of them read the introduction, I made them all rip the whole thing right out of the books. You should've seen their faces."

"Daddy," Amy said with a light laugh. "You can't just keep telling your students to rip up their books. That's going to come back to bite you."

"Maybe so, but you should've seen the look one of the teachers had when he stepped in the room. He wasn't aware I had been in there and he thought the boys were just going crazy. He was so embarrassed when he realized I had told them to rip out the pages in the first place. I think it was all worth it just for that."

"Your teaching methods really are something else."

"What did you do today?"

"My friend, Chris, decided to take me out after school with some of her friends and then I went over to her house for a while to get some homework done."

"That's good to hear. It's better than being stuck sitting in the library, I'm sure. I'd like to meet her sometime."

"Well, I'm going to go ahead and turn in for the night. Good luck tomorrow."

"Good night, Amy. I love you."

"Love you too."


	2. Chapter 2

Things followed this pattern for the next several days. Amy would attend classes, go out with Chris and her friends after school, and then head to Chris's house to do homework.

Amy loved Chris's mother. She was an extremely nice woman who was always making the most amazing meals for the two girls to eat. Amy actually found herself looking forward to going to her house, even if they were just going to do homework. It took her mind off the fact that she wasn't allowed to see her father all day.

"Hey, Amy," Chris said as Amy took her usual seat next to her in their first class of the day. "I'm so sorry, but I have plans after school today and then I have to go to a dinner party with Chet tonight, so I can't make our usual study date."

"Oh, it's okay," Amy replied, trying to hide her disappointment. "I have a lot of homework to work on so I can just spend time in the library."

"I'm sorry."

"Really, it's okay. I'll survive. What's one night going to hurt?"

"If it's any consolation, the dinner party will probably be really, really boring. I'd rather be doing homework with you."

"You're too kind, but I'm sure it won't be that bad."

After school, Amy headed for the library. She took out her books and did all of her assigned homework which took longer than usual but nearly long enough. She had forgotten how boring it was without Chris to keep her company. Nevertheless, she did her best to pass the time until it was safe to return to Welton.

How she longed to be back in London where she could just go wherever she wished whenever she wanted.

After what felt like an eternity, the sky had darkened and she was allowed to go back to the school she was not allowed in.

As she walked back, she could've sworn she heard footsteps behind her, but when she paused, she heard nothing. Her heart began to beat a bit faster as she quickened her step. Perhaps she was just being paranoid, but she didn't want to risk it.

The school was in sight. She was so close. If she could just get inside those doors, she would be safe.

She wasn't close enough. A boy who seemed to tower over her quickly stepped in front of her. She could smell alcohol on him.

"Hey, hey, pretty girl," he said drunkenly. "I've been watching you for a while. How about we go and have some time all to ourselves? Would you like that?"

"I believe you've had a bit too much to drink," she said, hoping he didn't catch how her voice slightly trembled.

The boy laughed. "Don't worry. I won't let that interfere with our fun. Nothing can stop me from showing you a good time."

He came closer to her and put his hands on her arms.

"Get off me," Amy said firmly.

She attempted to pull away from his touch, but he strengthened his grasp on her shoulders until he was pressing his body against hers.

"Get off me! Get off!"

Suddenly, the boy was roughly shoved away from her. Amy looked over to find Neil.

"Hey, get out of here," he ordered. "Before you get in trouble for underage drinking and attempted assault."

The boy smirked as he stumbled off. "I didn't want anything to do with her anyway."

Neil looked over at Amy. "Are you alright?"

"I am now," she answered timidly. "How'd you know I was out here?"

"I passed by one of the windows in the hall and saw someone following you. Come on, let's get you inside."

Neil escorted Amy inside the building and up to her father's room.

"Mr. Keating?" he called as he knocked on the door.

"It's open."

The two teenagers walked in, and he bolted upright at the sight of his daughter's frazzled state.

"Amy, what happened?"

"Someone tried to attack me on the walk back."

Her father sighed heavily. Then he gently pushed her out the door. "Come on. We're going to see Mr. Nolan about this right now."

As Amy walked down the hallway, she looked back at Neil. "Thank you," she said to him.

Father and daughter marched down to Mr. Nolan's office. He knocked on the door as courtesy if nothing else before barging right in.

"Mr. Nolan, we have a serious problem."

"And what problem would that be, Mr. Keating?" Mr. Nolan asked dryly.

"Before tonight, I was happy to follow your rules set out for us. I didn't particularly like them, but I understood why you set them. But tonight, my daughter was nearly assaulted on the walk back because she had to make it in the dark. From now on, I would like her to be able to come back in broad daylight so this incident doesn't happen again."

Mr. Nolan looked over at Amy and took note of her haggard appearance. "Very well, Mr. Keating. Your daughter will be allowed entrance into the building after she finishes her classes."

"Thank you. Now with that being said, I fear the lack of interaction will be harmful to her education and development. I would like her to at least be able to eat meals in the cafeteria with the others and perhaps study with them if she can work it out."

Mr. Nolan looked at him hardly, clearly not wanting to agree to the new conditions. But he understood that Mr. Keating had a point. He couldn't just force the girl to lock herself in her room all day. His superiors would give him an earful for that.

"Alright. She is allowed to dine with us, and I'll allow her to join a study group. But please try to keep contact with the students to a minimum as much as possible. They cannot let her presence keep them from getting proper marks."

"Thank you, Mr. Nolan," Amy said quietly. "I'll do my best to follow your rules."

"You are dismissed."

The two of them exited the room and began heading back to their own.

Mr. Keating looked at his daughter. "Amy…are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm okay. Neil stopped him before he did anything to me."

"Did you recognize the person at all?"

"It was dark, but I don't think so."

"I'm so, so sorry. I should've known it wasn't safe for you to walk back in the dark."

"It's okay. At least now I get to be on the campus during the day. Who knows?" She looked at him with a sparkle in her eye. "Maybe I'll meet someone."

John smiled a little, recalling how much he and his wife teased her about finding a boyfriend. "Why don't you stop by one of my English classes tomorrow? I think you'd really enjoy it."

"But…Mr. Nolan said—"

"Mr. Nolan said you're allowed on campus during the daytime. My classes are during the day."

Amy smiled. "Well, lucky for you, one of your classes falls during my lunchtime. So I'll swing by for a little while and then get back for my next class."

"Perfect."

* * *

Amy walked into school the next morning a bit nervous about going to her father's class. After all, there weren't any girls in the entire building and to be surrounded by a bunch of teenage boys who longed for female interaction made her a bit wary.

"Hey, how was your day yesterday?" Chris asked.

"It was fine," Amy said with no smile.

"Uh-oh, what happened?"

"I…I got attacked on the walk back to the school."

"What?! Oh, it's my fault. I'm supposed to be the one who drives you so you don't get caught in a situation like that. I'm so, so sorry."

"Chris, it's not your fault. Nothing happened. One of the boys from the school saw and chased him away."

"Good. Really, Amy, I'm sorry. I should've made sure you had a ride."

"It's okay. I won't be at lunch today, though. I'm going to head over to Welton and sit in on one of the English classes my dad teaches."

"I thought you weren't allowed to go there during the day."

Amy smiled a little. "One good thing came out of last night."

As soon as it was time for Amy to have lunch, she gathered her things and walked briskly down to Welton.

She wandered through the halls for a bit before she finally found her father's classroom. She lightly knocked on the door and opened it.

Everyone turned to look at the newcomer, and she felt quite small under all of their gazes.

"Ah, Amy," her father smiled. "Boys, this is my daughter, Amy. She's going to be sitting in on a few of my classes. I warn you, though, behave yourselves, or we may _both_ have to leave this school." He looked back at Amy. "Amy, there's a desk for you there in the back."

Amy stepped forward and took a seat at the empty desk. She looked up and saw Neil looking back at her. She gave him a small shy smile, secretly thankful that the only boy she actually knew was in this class but equally embarrassed as she recalled their awkward encounter the night before.

"Now, let's continue," Mr. Keating announced. "A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. And don't use very sad, use…" He pointed to one of the boys. "Come on, Mr. Overstreet, you twerp."

"Morose?" the boy guessed.

"Exactly! Morose. Now, language was developed for one endeavor, and that is? Mr. Anderson? Come on! Are you a man or an amoeba?"

The boy looked up at Mr. Keating nervously but said nothing to him.

Mr. Keating, realizing he wasn't going to say anything, looked to Neil. "Mr. Perry?"

"Uh, to communicate," Neil answered.

"No! To woo women."

Amy laughed to herself and rolled her eyes as the boys chuckled.

After class was over, she started to quickly walk out before all the boys hounded her like a pack of wolves. Not only that, but she didn't want to be late for her next class.

"Amy!" she heard behind her. She turned to find Neil approaching her.

"Hey, I can't talk long. I've got to get back."

"I know. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Things were pretty…rough last night."

Amy's face reddened in embarrassment. "I'm fine, thank you. At least now I get to be on the campus during the day. Uh…Mr. Nolan said I could join a study group here, and I know we don't have exactly the same workload, but I thought I'd ask if I could join yours considering you're the only person in this school that I know."

"I wouldn't mind," Neil said with a smile. "I'm sure the others will be thrilled…"

"Yeah, about that. You might need to prepare them for this. If your grades start to slip, and the administration even remotely feels I'm responsible, both my father and I will get kicked out."

"No worries. These guys will be perfect gentlemen. Well…I'll take care of Charlie."

"I get out of school around 3:00. When do you meet?"

"In the evenings at 6:30 after dinner. We usually meet in the common room, but we'll go to one of the classrooms so you can be away from all the prying eyes."

"I'll see you then."

* * *

After school was out, Amy walked back to Welton so she could get some homework done before she attended dinner that evening with her father for the first time.

She went straight up to her room and took out her books and completed what homework she could.

A couple hours later, there was a knock on her door.

"Amy?" her father said as he peeked his head in. "It's time to head down for dinner."

"Alright."

Amy stood up from her desk and joined her father as they walked down to the dining hall together.

The second Amy stepped into the room, all eyes once again traveled to her. It was even worse than when she had stepped inside the classroom. Her father seemed to sense her uneasiness because he gently put his arm around her shoulders. Many of the boys turned around after that.

Amy went up to where all the teachers were and sat next to her father. A lot of the teachers were looking at her as if at any moment, she was going to turn into a siren and seduce all the boys at once. She tried her best to just ignore them and finish the food she was served. It ended up being difficult when they were all giving her the evil eye every ten seconds.

After the longest half-hour of her life, dinner ended and she went back up to her room to gather up her supplies for the study group.

There was another knock on her door as she just finished putting everything in her bag.

"Come in!" she called.

Neil opened the door. "Hey. I, uh, I thought I'd walk you so you could see where we'll be meeting."

Amy smiled and tossed her bag over her shoulder before coming out and closing the door.

"The other boys aren't going to be…uncomfortable, are they?"

"I don't think so. Cameron might be a little, but that's just because he's a stickler for the rules. Charlie will try to flirt with you, but if you just show him you aren't interested, he'll back off. As for the others, I don't think they'll have a problem."

They made it the classroom Neil had talked about and walked inside. Amy recognized all of the boys from her father's class.

"Amy, this is Cameron, Pitts, Meeks, Knox, Charlie, and my roommate, Todd."

"It's nice to meet you all," Amy said shyly.

Charlie bolted over to her and took her hand as he lightly kissed it. " _En chante_."

"Are you sure about this?" Cameron asked. "Won't we get in trouble?"

"Mr. Nolan said I could join a study group, I just have to keep my contact with the other boys to a minimum," Amy answered.

"Works for me," Charlie smirked.

"So, Amy, what are you working on?" Neil asked.

"Well, I'm kind of struggling in math," she told him. "So if anyone is good at Calculus, I could really use a few pointers."

"That would be Meeks's strong suit. I'm sure he'll help you."

"I'd be delighted," Meeks said with an awkward smile.


	3. Chapter 3

"Today we're going to be talking about William Shakespeare."

Everyone in the class groaned.

"I know. A lot of you looked forward to this about as much as you look forward to root canal work. We're gonna talk about Shakespeare as someone who writes something very interesting. Now, many of you have seen Shakespeare done very much like this." He put on an overdramatic British accent that elicited a few more chuckles from the boys. "'O Titus, bring your friend hither.' But if any of you have seen Mr. Marlon Brando, you know, Shakespeare can be different." Now he did his best Marlon Brando impression. "'Friend, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.' You can also imagine, maybe, John Wayne as Macbeth going, 'Well, is this a dagger I see before me?'"

The boys all laughed at her father's different voices. It was amazing how spot on they were.

"Okay, boys, take out your copy of _The Tempest_."

Everyone reached into their desks and pulled out the play while Amy just continued to watch.

"Let's see now…Mr. Perry, come to the front of the room, please. You as well, Mr. Dalton."

Both of the boys reluctantly got up from their seats and stood in front of everyone.

"Boys, turn to Act I, Scene II. Turn to the page where Ariel enters. Now, Mr. Perry, I would like you to read for Ariel. Mr. Dalton, you shall read for Prospero. Take it away, gentlemen."

Charlie looked at the text in front of him, then started, "'Come away, servant, come. I am ready now. Approach, my Ariel, come'."

Neil stood next to Charlie. "'All hail, great master! Grave sir, hail! I come to answer thy best pleasure'."

"Alright, and hold," Mr. Keating said. The two boys stopped and looked at their teacher. "What is this, a speech for an assembly? Put your whole body into the words. Bring them to life with your movement. Mr. Perry, you are a spirit who is doing Mr. Dalton's bidding. Mr. Dalton, you are the most powerful sorcerer to ever live. Now, boys, continue."

Neil looked back at the text and started to bounce in circles around Charlie. "'Be't to fly, to swim, to dive into the fire, to ride on the curl'd clouds, to thy strong bidding task Ariel and all his quality'."

Charlie smiled and looked at Neil. "'Hast thou, spirit, perform'd to point the tempest that I bade thee'?"

"'To every article'," Neil laughed. "'I boarded the king's ship. Now on the beak, now in the waist, the deck, in every cabin, I flamed amazement! Sometime I'ld divide, and burn in many places. On the topmast, the yards and bowsprit, would I flame distinctly, then meet and join. Jove's lightnings, the precursors o' the dreadful thunder-claps, more momentary and sight-outrunning were not! The fire and cracks of sulphurous roaring the most mighty Neptune seem to besiege and make his bold waves tremble, yea, his dread trident shake'."

"'My brave spirit'!" Charlie praised. "'Who was so firm, so constant, that this coil would not infect his reason'?"

"'Not a soul but felt a fever of the mad and play'd some tricks of desperation. All but mariners plunged in the foaming brine and quit the vessel, then all afire with me! The king's son, Ferdinand, with hair up-staring, then like reeds, not hair, was the first man that leap'd, cried, 'Hell is empty and all the devils are here'!'"

"Good," Mr. Keating said as he stopped them again. "How do you feel now?"

Neil smiled a little. "Like Shakespeare isn't as bad as it seems."

"You may take your seats again. Thank you, boys."

There was light applause from around the room as Neil and Charlie sat back down at their desks.

"Can anyone tell me what happened in that scene? Mr. Meeks?"

"Uh…" Meeks stuttered. "Prospero is asking Ariel if he did what was requested of him, and Ariel is telling the story of what he did to the king's ship. Everyone jumped overboard and washed up on the island, just like Prospero wanted."

"Yes. Shakespeare is meant to be seen, lads, not read. When we study Shakespeare, we don't just sit around a campfire and take turns reading it. We see it as how the author intended it. Now…who wants to do the next scene?"

* * *

"Gather around, everyone."

The boys and Amy got up from the chairs and sat around Mr. Keating as he pulled out one of his books.

"'Dogs, sir? Oh, not just now. I do enjoy a good dog once in a while, sir. You can have yourself a three-course meal from one dog. Start with your canine crudités, go to your Fido flambé for main course and for dessert, a Pekingese parfait. And you can pick your teeth with a little paw'."

Amy smiled as the boys all laughed at her father's funny voice. He really was an incredible teacher if he could get these boys laughing. Especially Todd, the one who couldn't say two words in front of an audience.

* * *

Mr. Keating climbed up on top of his desk. "Why do I stand up here? Anybody?"

"To feel taller," Charlie answered.

"No!" He banged his foot onto the bell on his desk sending a small ding across the room. "Thank you for playing, Mr. Dalton. I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way." He looked all around the room. "You see, the world looks very different from up here. You don't believe me? Come see for yourself. Come on. Come on!"

All of the boys got up from their seats and went over to his desk. One by one, they all got on top of it and looked around the room to see things the way Mr. Keating had when he was standing on it.

"Just when you think you know something, you have to look at it in another way. Even though it may seem silly or wrong, you must try! Now, when you read, don't just consider what the author thinks. Consider what you think. Boys, you must strive to find your own voice. Because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all. Thoreau said, 'Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.' Don't be resigned to that. Break out!"

He noticed that some of the boys were just going up on the desk and walking right off.

"Don't just walk off the edge like lemmings. Look around you! There! There you go, Mr. Priske. Thank you! Yes! Dare to strike out and find new ground."

Mr. Keating gathered up his things and began to walk out of the room.

"Now, in addition to your essays, I would like you to compose a poem of your own, an original work."

All of the boys groaned at the thought of another homework assignment. Hearing their groans, Mr. Keating flipped the lights on and off dramatically.

"That's right! You have to deliver it aloud in front of the class on Monday. _Bonne chance,_ gentlemen."

Todd got on top of the desk and looked around for a second.

"Mr. Anderson?"

Todd stumbled a bit before he got the chance to hop off the desk.

"Don't think that I don't know that this assignment scares the heck out of you, you mole."

He flipped the light off as the rest of the boys laughed.

Amy waited for all of the boys to exit the room. Then she slowly went up to her father's desk and hopped on top of it. She looked around the room just as the other boys had done, trying to see things with another point of view. As she turned around so that her back was to the desks, she suddenly heard Neil's voice.

"Your father was right."

The surprise of someone else being in the room with her caused her to lose her footing on the desk and start falling backwards. With a small scream, she ended up landing right into Neil's arms.

"Sorry," he said with an awkward laugh as he quickly put her down again. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay," Amy said, her heart beating quickly from the combination of the scare and the close contact with him. "I just didn't know anyone else was in here."

"Your dad is an amazing teacher. The best one I've ever had my entire time at Welton. He's not just teaching us English. He's doing much more than that."

"Yeah. He's more than just a good teacher at home too. He's always there to give me guidance when I have a problem. And then, if I'm ever having a bad day, he'll do some of those impressions he does so well."

"You're so lucky to have him as a father."

"Yeah. I am."

* * *

"Hey, guys," Charlie said during their study group. "Think we should tell her?"

"No," Cameron answered. "She'll just get us in trouble."

"What are you talking about?" Amy asked.

"Nothing."

"I think we should tell her," Neil put in.

"Tell me what?" Amy insisted.

"Dead Poets Society."

"Dead Poets Society…" she mumbled. "That sounds familiar."

"It should," Knox told her. "Your dad was in it when he went here. I think he might've even started it."

"Oh, yeah. What exactly is it?"

"We sneak out after curfew and go to this cave beyond the stream, and for hours, we'll sit in there and read poetry aloud," Neil explained.

"Sounds intriguing."

"Wanna come to tonight's meeting?"

"I…I wouldn't want to impose."

"No imposing!" Charlie exclaimed. "We'd love to have you!"

Amy smiled a little. "In that case, count me in."

She ignored Cameron's sigh.

That night, Amy put on a sweater and quietly went outside the school, careful to avoid any of the eyes of the teachers who seemed to be everywhere. She may not attend Welton, but she could still get in trouble for leaving so late. Or worse, she could get the other boys caught.

"Amy!" Neil whispered.

She looked over to find him and the others boys waving to her. She took one more look behind her and went over to them.

"Were you followed?" Cameron asked her.

"I don't think so," she answered.

The boys led her on the long walk to the cave Neil had talked about earlier. It was a longer walk than she had expected, but she managed to make it unharmed.

"Give the lady the good seat!" Neil ordered.

The 'good seat' ended up being a rock that was flatter than the others. Amy took a seat on it as the others boys found a place for themselves.

"I hereby reconvene the Dead Poets Society, Welton Chapter," Neil addressed. "I'll now read the traditional opening message by society member, Henry David Thoreau. 'I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life. To put to rout all that was not life, and not, when I had come to die, discover that I had not lived'."

Amy smiled a little. She loved poetry and had for as long as she could remember. She recalled all of the times her mother and father read poetry to her when she was little to get her to go to sleep. The both of them read poems to her with soft but strong voices that would perfectly lull her to her dreams.

"Who would like to go first?" Neil asked the group.

"I've got one!" Meeks said excitedly. He pulled out a sheet of paper with some chicken scratch on it. "This is a Tennyson:

 _Sunset and evening star,_

 _And one clear call for me!_

 _And may there be no moaning of the bar,_

 _When I put out to sea,_

 _But such a tide as moving seems asleep,_

 _Too full for sound and foam,_

 _When that which drew from out the boundless deep_

 _Turns again home._

 _Twilight and evening bell,_

 _And after that the dark!_

 _And may there be no sadness of farewell,_

 _When I embark;_

 _For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place_

 _The flood may bear me far,_

 _I hope to see my Pilot face to face_

 _When I have crost the bar._

"I like that one," Pitts remarked.

"Amy, do you have a poem?" Neil said to the girl. "It's okay if you don't. You could always look through this book and find one you like."

Amy looked down at the ground, trying to recall any of the poems from her childhood. "There is one I remember…"

"Who wrote it?" Knox asked.

"Albert Pike."

There was a pause as she attempted to recall all of the words and give them the proper recitation.

" _Though the heart hath been sunken in folly and guilt—  
Though its hopes and its joys on the earth have been spilt—  
Though its course hath become like the cataract's foam—  
Still, still it is holy, when thinking on Home.  
Though its tears have been shed like the rains of the spring—  
Though it may have grown loath to existence to cling—  
Oh, still a sweet thought like a shadow will come,  
When the eye of the mind turns again to its Home.  
Though the fire of the heart may have withered its core  
Unto ashes and dust—though the head have turned hoar  
Ere its time, as the surfs o'er the breakers that foam—  
Still, a tear will arise when we think upon Home._"

There was silence in the cave as the boys reflected over what had just happened. None of them knew that Amy loved poetry so much, she could recite one from memory. Nor did they expect that kind of delivery to come from her. The way she said the words made each of them feel every syllable.

Amy looked to the ground again. "I miss London," she said quietly.

Everyone looked at one another. They all knew Amy missed living in London, but they hadn't realized that she missed her home as much as she really did. For the past couple of weeks in study group, she usually seemed pretty happy. She had been a bit quiet at first, but she had quickly warmed up to all of them. Now they finally saw what she was really feeling.

"I'm sure you do," Neil finally said, breaking the sorrowful silence. "I know it must be hard to be away from where you spent so much time growing up. But look on the bright side. While you're here, you have all of us. We may not have the accents, and we don't really know much about British culture, but I think I speak for all of us when I say that we'll always be here for you. Whatever you need."

"You guys don't even know me that well…"

"We know you well enough to know that we would do anything for you."

"Yeah, Amy," Knox chimed in. "Look, we don't know many girls, so we may screw up sometimes when we're trying to help, but Neil's right. We'll always be here for you. Dead Poets honor."

"Dead Poets honor," all of the boys chorused as they raised their right hands.

Amy smiled. "Thank you."

A couple hours later after the Dead Poets Society meeting ended, the group all began the long trek back to the school. Amy was exhausted and longed more than anything to crash into her warm bed.

"Hey, Neil," Amy said quietly once they were close to the school. "Thank you for inviting me to this. I really needed it. I guess…I hadn't realized how much I missed London until tonight."

"I understand. I'm glad we were able to cheer you up a little."

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night, Amy."


	4. Chapter 4

As Amy walked up to Welton once school was over, she was greeted by Neil.

"Amy, check out what I saw earlier!"

Neil handed her a flyer announcing tryouts for a play they were performing at the girls' school not far from Welton.

"Are you going to audition?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. Do you think I should?"

"If it's something you want to do, then yes."

"You should audition too."

Amy laughed nervously. "I don't know. I've never performed before."

"When you recited that poem at our last meeting, you affected all of us. You were amazing. I think you should at least try."

"You think so?"

"Absolutely."

Mr. Keating joined the two of them. "Hello, lad and lady. What brings you together today?"

"Hi, Daddy. Neil was showing me a flyer for tryouts for a play at Henley Hall. And I'm thinking about auditioning. Can I do it?"

"Of course. I'd love to see you perform. What play is it?"

" _A Midsummer Night's Dream_."

"Oh, Shakespeare. Good thing we practiced that."

"So I can really try out?"

"Only if I get to see you on opening night!"

Amy laughed and threw her arms around her father's neck. "Thank you, Daddy!"

Neil smiled. "Come on, let's go tell the others!"

The two of them excitedly ran through the halls of Welton, careful to avoid the strict eyes of Mr. Nolan and Mr. Hager. Amy could only imagine the lecture she would get for walking around with Neil. Mr. Nolan had already cornered her several times to once again remind her to keep her interaction with the others to a minimum. If she had to hear those words one more time, she was going to explode.

Neil and Amy burst into Neil's room to find Todd sitting on his bed with a journal in his lap.

"I found it," Neil smiled as he handed Todd the flyer.

"You found what?" Todd asked.

"What I wanna do right now. What's really, really inside me."

"' _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ '?"

"This is it."

"What is that?"

"It's a play, dummy."

"I know that. What does it have to do with you?"

"All right. They're putting it on at Henley Hall. Open tryouts. Open tryouts!"

"Yes, so?"

"So, I'm gonna act! And Amy's gonna do it with me!" He pounced on his own bed and put the blanket around his shoulders as if it were a cloak. Amy couldn't help but smile at his excitement. "Yes, yes! We're gonna be actors! Ever since I can remember, I've wanted to try this. I even tried to go to summer stock auditions last year, but, of course, my father wouldn't let me. For the first time in my whole life, I know what I wanna do!" He bounced up onto Todd's bed before grabbing a handful of papers and tossing them in the air. "And for the first time, I'm gonna do it whether my father wants me to or not! CARPE DIEM!"

"Neil, Neil, hold on a minute," Todd said as he gathered up the papers. "How are you gonna be in a play if your father won't let you?"

Neil jumped off his bed. "First I gotta get the part, then I can worry about that."

"Yeah, but won't he kill you if he finds out you went to an audition and didn't even tell him?"

"No, no, no, no. As far as I'm concerned, he won't have to know about any of this."

"Well, that's impossible."

"Nothing's impossible."

"Well, why don't you just call him and ask him? And maybe he'll say yes."

"That's a laugh!" Neil exclaimed as he tossed the blanket back onto his bed. "If I don't ask him, at least I won't be disobeying him."

"Better to ask forgiveness than permission," Amy put in.

"See? Amy gets it."

"Yeah, but if he said—" Todd started.

"Geez, Todd!" Neil shouted, rounding on him furiously. "Whose side are you on?" Todd didn't answer him, surprised at his outburst. Neil took the flyer back and sat on the heater next to the window. "I mean, I haven't even gotten the part yet. Can't I even enjoy the idea for a little while?" Todd didn't say anything as he picked up his journal. "You're coming to the meeting this afternoon?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"Nothing Mr. Keating has to say means anything to you, does it, Todd?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Neil got up from the heater and stood next to his bed. "You're in the club! Being in the club means being stirred up by things. You look about as stirred up as a cesspool!"

"You want me out?"

"No! I want you in, but being in means you gotta do something. Not just say you're in."

"Well, listen, Neil. I appreciate this concern, but I-I'm not like you. All right? You-you-you say things and people listen. I'm-I'm not like that."

"Don't you think you could be?"

"No! I-I-I don't know, but that's not the point. The-the point is that there's nothing you can do about it, so you can just butt out. I can take care of myself just fine. All right?"

"No," Neil said quietly.

"What do you mean 'no'?"

Neil smiled a little. "No."

He snatched up Todd's journal, and Amy began laughing as he bounded across the room, attempting to read what Todd had written as Todd tried desperately to retrieve his writing.

"Give me—Neil. Neil, give that back."

"'We are dreaming of a—' Poetry! I'm being chased by Walt Whitman! Okay, okay."

Amy laughed harder as Todd chased him all around the room. Neil dropped the notebook and Todd picked it up.

Cameron burst into the room. "What are you guys doing? I'm sure—You see this chemistry—"

Before Cameron could finish his sentence, the cycle started all over again once Neil snatched up the chemistry textbook.

"Hey, give me—Neil, give me—Don't be immature! Come on!"

By now, Amy's sides were cramping from laughter as she watched Cameron, Neil and Todd run across the room.

"Give it to me!" Charlie called from the doorway. "Give it to me!"

The book got tossed to everyone in the room except its owner. More of the Dead Poets came into the room and joined in on the trick. Cameron was clearly losing patience with everyone, but the game was too much fun to quit. One of the boys began to play random notes on a recorder as Charlie banged on a pair of bongos.

As Neil looked over at Amy's teary eyes from laughing so hard, he realized that it was the first time he had ever seen the girl truly laugh. In fact, it was the first time he had ever seen a real smile on her face.

He wondered if she knew how beautiful her smile really was.

* * *

Amy followed the other boys in her father's class out onto the field right outside the school. The boys were dressed in their gym uniforms, but Amy just had on her usual casual wear with a thin sweater overtop of her shirt to shield her skin from the slightly brisk air.

"Now, devotees may argue that one sport or game is inherently better than another," Mr. Keating told the boys as he led them to the field. "For me, sport is actually a chance for us to have other human beings push us to excel. I want you all to come over here and take a slip of paper and line up single file."

He reached a set of bleachers and set down the bag of balls and his briefcase. Then he took out his clipboard and began ripping off slips of paper.

"Mr. Meeks, time to inherit the earth. Mr. Pitts, rise above your name." He handed the clipboard to the boy closet to him. "I want you to hand these out to the boys, one apiece."

All of the boys received a piece of paper and then stood in a single file line in front of a soccer ball. Amy stayed on the bleachers to watch.

"You know what to do, Pitts," Mr. Keating said to the first boy in the line.

Pitts looked down at his slip of paper. "'Oh to struggle against great odds. To meet enemies undaunted'."

"Sounds to me like you're daunted. Say it again like you're undaunted."

"'Oh to struggle against great odds! To meet enemies undaunted'!"

"Now go on."

Pitts ran forward and kicked the soccer ball. Another one of the students quickly replaced it for the next person in line.

"Yes! Next."

Another boy came to the front of the line. "'To be a sailor of the world, bound for all ports'!" He ran forward and kicked the soccer ball in front of him.

"Next. Louder!"

"'Oh, I live to be the ruler of life, not a slave'."

"'To mount the scaffolds. To advance to the muzzle of guns with perfect nonchalance'."

Mr. Keating put a record into his record player and placed the needle down onto the black disc. Music began to flow from the player which confused Meeks who was next in line.

"Come on, Meeks!" Mr. Keating urged. "Listen to the music."

"'To dance, clap hands, exalt, shout, skip, roll on, float on'."

"Yes!"

Hopkins stepped up in line. "'Oh, to have life henceforth the poem of new joys'," he read as if he would rather have his eyes shoved out than be reading the line. He crumpled the paper in his hand and gave a pathetic kick to the soccer ball.

"Oh! Pbtht! Boo! Come on, Charlie, let it fill your soul!"

Charlie raised his hands in the air and shouted, "'To indeed be a god'!"

Amy laughed as he ran forward to kick the ball.

Her father came over to her. "You want to read one?"

"No," she smiled. "I couldn't."

"Come on, it'll help you practice for your audition tonight."

"No, really. I don't want to. Not now."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

"You don't have to kick the ball. You could just read a line."

"You're not giving me a choice, are you?"

John smiled at his daughter. "Nope."

Amy rolled her eyes and sighed as she stepped down from the bleachers and joined the line.

"Mr. Dalton, please fill in for Amy."

Charlie nodded as he stood beside her.

Amy looked down at the slip of paper in her hand. "'Love at the lips was touch, as sweet as I could bear, and once that seemed too much, I lived on air'."

"Oh, come on, I know you're capable of more than that!" her father exclaimed.

Amy took a deep breath and then called out to the fall air, "'Love at the lips was touch, as sweet as I could bear, and once that seemed too much, I lived on air!" She spun around in circles as she yelled the words out to the sky.

Charlie ran up to the soccer ball and kicked it extra hard. He came back to her and held his hand up for a high-five which she happily gave him.

Amy couldn't help but laugh. She really enjoyed getting to join her father's class.

She was ready for the audition tonight.


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey, Neil!" Amy called as she left her father's class to return to Ridgeway.

Neil turned and gave her a small smile. "Yeah?"

"Don't look at the cast list without me. I want to do it together."

"Okay. Do you want me to meet you after school?"

"I'll just meet you outside Henley Hall tonight." She lightly placed her hand to her racing heart. "Oh my goodness, I'm so nervous!"

"I know, I am too. I'll see you then!"

As soon as the final bell rang, Amy and Chris met up and drove to Chris's house. They started to do homework together since it was the time of year where they both had a ridiculous amount of homework to complete and hanging out with friends would have to take a backseat.

Amy could barely focus because she was so nervous about seeing the cast list. Chris teased her about it multiple times and assured her that everything would be fine.

Although Amy appreciated her friend's efforts, she knew very well that it may not be fine. There was a good chance that she didn't even get into the show much less get a good part.

After homework was completed, Chris's mother fed the two girls dinner. Then Amy politely excused herself and raced down to Henley Hall. Neil was already waiting outside for her.

Hearts racing, they both entered the school and walked down to the theater department.

Neil paused when they were only a few feet away from the billboard where the cast list was pinned up.

"Okay," he said as he faced Amy. "No matter what happens, we both know that we did our best, and that's all we can really do, right?"

"Right."

The two teenagers slowly approached the billboard and scanned the white sheet of paper for their names.

Amy put her hand to her mouth as she turned to look at Neil.

"I'm playing Puck."

"I'm playing Helena."

Neil quickly hugged her as they both started laughing in surprise. Realizing their close contact, they quickly released one another, but the smiles never left their faces.

They scanned the rest of the page that told them the information they would need about their first rehearsal.

"Come on, we've gotta tell the others!" Neil exclaimed.

He grabbed her hand and ran out of the school back towards Welton. Not even caring about the teachers or the headmaster, he ran with Amy all the way up to his dorm hallway.

"Charlie, I got the part!" he yelled excitedly. He banged on Charlie's door. "I'm gonna play Puck!" He then ran up to Meeks and Pitts who had come out of their room to see what the commotion was about. "I'm gonna play Puck!"

"What did he say?" Meeks asked.

"Puck?" Pitts said.

"That's the main part!" Neil yelled to Knox. "And get this! Amy's playing Helena! We're both in lead roles!"

The members of their study group came out into the hallway and congratulated the both of them.

Neil then ran into his room and sat down at his typewriter. "Okay, okay, okay, okay."

Todd sat down on Neil's bed. "Neil, how are you gonna do this?"

"They need a letter of permission from my father and Mr. Nolan."

"You're not gonna write it."

"Oh yes, I am."

"Oh, Neil. Neil, you're crazy."

Neil began to type out his letter. "Okay. 'I am writing to you on behalf of my son, Neil Perry'." Neil began laughing and stomping his feet excitedly. "This is great."

Amy laughed with him. "Okay, I need to go tell my father the good news, not to mention I've got to get out of here before Mr. Hager or Mr. Nolan see me. I'd never hear the end of it. I'll see you both tomorrow."

"Night, Amy!" both boys called.

Amy ran upstairs to her father's room. "Daddy!" she called as she burst in.

"Well, with that entrance and that face, I can only assume one thing."

"I got the part of Helena!"

Mr. Keating laughed and hugged his daughter. "Congratulations, Amy! I'm very, very proud of you!"

"And Neil is playing Puck! We both got main parts!"

"That's wonderful! I look forward to seeing this production. When do rehearsals start?"

"Monday evening. And since Neil will be there, I'll have someone to walk back with."

"Good. Go get some sleep and get rested up for Monday!"

* * *

Amy sat in the back of her father's classroom as the boys nervously got up to the front of the room to recite the poems they had written.

Knox was up first. "To Chris," he read.

 _Chris?_ My _Chris?_ Amy thought. _Knox has a thing for Chris? When did they even meet?_

"'I see a sweetness in her smile. Bright light shines from her eyes. But life is complete, contentment is mine, just knowing that…" He stopped when various laughs and snickers could be heard around the room. "…just knowing that she's alive'." He balled up the paper in his hand and dejectedly walked back to his desk. "Sorry, Captain. It's stupid."

"No, no, it's not stupid," Mr. Keating insisted. "It's a good effort. It touched on one of the major themes: love. A major theme not only in poetry but life."

Amy smiled at him from her seat. Knox reciting that poem was one of the cutest things she had ever seen. She would have to ask Chris how they knew each other.

Mr. Keating looked down at the boy sitting behind Meeks. "Mr. Hopkins, you were laughing. You're up."

Hopkins went up to the front of the room and unfolded a piece of paper. "'The cat sat on the mat'."

He returned to his seat with a smug smile as the rest of the boys laughed. Amy couldn't help but roll her eyes. This Mr. Hopkins seemed to really dislike English class. Or maybe he was just a slacker. Or maybe it was both.

"Congratulations, Mr. Hopkins," Mr. Keating said. "Yours is the first poem to ever have a negative score on the Pritchard scale. We're not laughing at you, we're laughing near you. I don't mind that your poem had a simple theme. Sometimes the most beautiful poetry can be about simple things, like a cat or a flower or rain. You see, poetry can come from anything with the stuff of revelation in it. Just don't let your poems be ordinary. Now, who's next?" He glanced over at Todd. "Mr. Anderson, I see you sitting there in agony. Come on, Todd, step up. Let's put you out of your misery."

Todd sighed a little. "I—I didn't do it. I didn't write a poem."

There was a small beat of silence as Amy wondered what would happen now. If she knew one thing, her father wasn't just going to give him a disappointed look and move on to the next person like most teachers would.

Mr. Keating raised his eyebrows with a smile. "Mr. Anderson thinks that everything inside of him is worthless and embarrassing. Isn't that right, Todd? Isn't that your worst fear? Well, I think you're wrong. I think you have something inside of you that is worth a great deal." He walked up to the blackboard and began writing in messy cursive. "'I sound my barbaric yawp over the rooftops of the world'. W. W. Uncle Walt again. Now, for those of you who don't know, a 'yawp' is a loud cry or yell. Now, Todd, I would like you to give us a demonstration of a barbaric 'yawp'. Come on. You can't 'yawp' sitting down. Let's go. Come on. Up."

Todd lightly groaned in embarrassment as Mr. Keating ushered him to the front of the room.

"You gotta get in 'yawping' stance."

"A—a yawp?" Todd asked.

"No, not just a yawp. A barbaric yawp."

Todd faced the rest of the class. "Yawp," he said quietly.

"Come on, louder."

"Yawp," he said a bit louder.

"No, that's a mouse! Come on. Louder!"

"Yawp."

"Oh, for goodness' sake, boy! Yell like a man!"

"Yawp!" the boy shouted to his teacher.

Amy's eyebrows rose. She had never heard Todd talk louder than normal volume, and yet her father had actually gotten him to yell. Sure it was out of frustration, but it was a yell all the same.

"There it is!" Mr. Keating praised. "You see, you have a barbarian in you, after all." Todd started to return to his seat, but Mr. Keating stopped him. "Now, you don't get away that easy." He made Todd look at a picture of Walt Whitman on top of the blackboard. "The picture of Uncle Walt up there. What does he remind you of? Don't think. Answer. Go on."

"A m-m-madman," Todd stammered.

"What kind of madman? Don't think about it. Just answer again."

"A crazy madman."

"No, you can do better than that. Free up your mind. Use your imagination. Say the first thing that pops into your head, even if it's total gibberish. Go on, go on."

"Uh, uh, a sweaty-toothed madman."

"Goodness, boy, there's a poet in you after all. There, close your eyes." He put his hand over Todd's eyes to ensure that the boy was not seeing anything. "Close your eyes. Close them. Now, describe what you see."

Todd began furiously searching for words as Mr. Keating began spinning around with him. "Uh, I—I close my eyes…"

"Yes?"

"Uh, and this image floats beside me."

"A sweaty-toothed madman?"

"A sweaty-toothed madman with a stare that pounds my brain."

"Oh, that's excellent. Now, give him action. Make him do something."

"His hands reach out and choke me."

"That's it. Wonderful. Wonderful."

Mr. Keating removed his hand and stopped spinning him, but Todd kept his eyes closed. "And—and all the time he's mumbling."

"What's he mumbling?"

"Mumbling, 'Truth. Truth is like…like a blanket that always leaves your feet cold'."

The boys began laughing, and Amy glared at them. Could they not see how difficult it was for Todd to get up there and do all of this?

Todd nervously opened his eyes.

"Forget them, forget them," Mr. Keating said as he urged the boy to close his eyes again. "Stay with the blanket. Tell me about that blanket."

"Y-Y-You push it, stretch it, it'll never be enough. You kick at it, beat it, it'll never cover any of us. From the moment we enter crying to the moment we leave dying, it will just cover your face as you wail and cry and scream."

His eyes opened, and he looked at Mr. Keating in front of him who was looking up at him with admiration. There was a tense few moments in the classroom before everyone began clapping for the boy, astonished at his secret ability to write incredible poetry.

Amy had never felt so proud to be the daughter of such an incredible man.

Mr. Keating stood up again and went next to him. "Don't you forget this."

As Todd took his seat with a bright smile on his face, their teacher began scanning the room for his next victim.

"Amy."

Amy's head shot up to look at her father.

"I saw you in your room writing a piece of your own. Why don't you share it with us?"

"Oh, no," Amy said with a nervous laugh. "I…I was just writing it for fun. I…I didn't intend for it to be shared or anything…"

"Come on, Amy!" Neil said. "Let's hear it."

"Yeah, we want to hear your poem!" Charlie added.

"If Todd can get up there, you can too," Knox told her.

The rest of the class joined in, all of them urging Amy to share what she had written.

"Okay, okay," she finally said.

Everyone clapped as she got out of her seat and moved to the front of the room. She took a deep breath and read the words she had written.

" _Home is a special word._

 _It's where you learn how to live._

 _Home is a certain place._

 _There's always comfort there._

 _You can count on warmth awaiting you_

 _From people who you love._

 _There's no place quite like it_

 _Nor will there ever be._

 _But there's more to home than a house._

 _Home is where the heart is_."

Amy glanced up and met Neil's eyes. She quickly looked away from him in embarrassment. The boys slowly began to clap for her.

"I see you touched on the idea of home," Mr. Keating said. "A common theme amongst poets. But I like how you started out by describing a place and ended in describing a feeling. Very well done."

"Thank you."

As Amy returned to her seat, Neil followed her with his eyes. It was no wonder she got the part of Helena. While the content wasn't the most remarkable poem ever written, she had an amazing power with her voice. She could bring almost anything to life just by reading words off a page.

There was something about the way she looked at him as she read the last sentence of her poem. 'Home is where the heart is'? Did that mean that…her heart had adjusted to life here…because of him?


	6. Chapter 6

Weeks passed, and Amy fell into a regular schedule. During the day, she would attend her classes and go to her father's English class during lunch. Then she would usually head over to Chris's house to do homework, or she would do homework in her room at Welton. In the evenings, she and Neil would spend a few hours at rehearsals. Since they were both main characters, it was rare they weren't called in for a rehearsal. After rehearsal was over, the two of them would walk back to the school and make conversation along the way.

They both had very similar interests when it came to poetry and theater. Neil loved to hear Amy talk about what her life was like when had lived in London. He liked the way her eyes lit up whenever she talked about her home.

Similarly, Amy enjoyed listening to Neil talk about his dreams for the future because the excitement on his face was incomparable.

Between the walks to and from Henley Hall, the walks to and from Dead Poets meetings, the downtime during rehearsals, and the study group meetings, they were becoming increasingly closer as the days went on.

It wasn't just Neil Amy was close with. She had become good friends with all of the boys in the Dead Poets Society. Meeks was the one to help her with all her math homework, Charlie was there to make her laugh when her days were a bit rough, and Todd could just say almost anything to make her smile. Knox constantly asked her for updates on Chris's life and her likes and dislikes, anything he could use to woo her. She did her best, but the fact was that Chris already had a boyfriend and she wasn't going to help him wreck their relationship just because he was infatuated with her.

Nevertheless, she was thankful that even though she did miss life back in London, she had finally become comfortable here.

Before rehearsal that evening, Neil and Amy headed towards the cave to meet up with the other Dead Poet members.

"Neil! Amy!" Meeks said as they joined them.

"Friends, scholars, Welton men."

Amy coughed and waved her hand in front of her face to wave away the smoke that floated everywhere from the various pipes. "What are you all doing in here?"

"What does it look like?" Charlie asked.

"It looks like your disintegrating your lungs. And this smells terrible. How can you bear it?"

"It's classy."

"Not the word I would use."

"Oh, lighten up!"

Meeks saw that Neil was carrying a beat-up lamp. "What is that, Neil?"

"Duh, it's a lamp, Meeks," Pitts answered.

Neil took a seat and removed the lampshade to reveal that the base of the lamp looked like a man. "No. This is the god of the cave."

"The god of the cave," Meeks laughed.

Charlie began making loud random notes on his saxophone.

"Charlie, what are you doing?" Pitts asked.

"What do you say we start this meeting?" Charlie smiled. He stood up and cleared his throat to cease the boys' chatter. "Gentlemen…and lady." He tossed a wink in Amy's direction which made her smile. "'Poetrusic' by Charles Dalton." He played random off-key notes on the saxophone. "Laughing, crying, tumbling, mumbling. Gotta do more. Gotta be more." Again, he did the same off-key notes. The other boys laughed at his attempts to play the saxophone. "Chaos screaming, chaos dreaming. Gotta do more! Gotta be more!"

To everyone's surprise, Charlie began to play an actual song on the saxophone. The now on-key notes drifted from the instrument around the cave. Charlie took small steps, his eyes closed as he focused on the notes. It was clear he felt each note he played. Amy wondered what other hidden talents the boys in the group had.

Charlie ended right in front of a forlorn Knox, ruffling his hair as he finished the song.

"That was nice," Pitts remarked. "That was great. Where did you learn to play like that?"

"My parents made me take the clarinet for years," Charlie answered.

"I love the clarinet," Cameron put in.

"I hated it. The saxophone. The saxophone is more…sonorous."

Everyone smiled as he used a large word they had just learned in English class the other day.

Knox threw down his unused pipe in frustration. "I can't take it anymore. If I don't have Chris, I'm gonna kill myself."

"Okay, let's not blow things out of proportion," Amy told him. "Haven't you only spoken to her once?"

"Yeah, Knoxious, you've gotta calm down," Charlie said.

"No, Charlie," Knox answered firmly. "That's just my problem. I've been calm all my life. I'm going to do something about that." He jumped up and started making his way out of the cave.

"Where are you going?" Neil called.

"What are you gonna do?" Charlie added.

Knox turned around with a smile. "I'm gonna call her."

As he let out a devious chuckle, the others laughed in surprise and bolted up after him to witness such a momentous occasion. A boy from Welton was going to call a _girl_? The idea was almost unthinkable!

Amy didn't approve of his desire to want to date Chris while she was dating someone else, but she knew she couldn't say anything to stop him. And if she was being honest, she wasn't a huge fan of Chet. He was nice to Chris and that was good, but he acted like since he was the captain of the football team, everyone had to worship the ground he walked on.

Knox went up to the school payphone and dialed Chris's number. The second she answered, Knox quickly hung up the phone again. He turned to the gathered group of guys plus Amy looking quite distraught.

"She's gonna hate me. The Danburrys will hate me. My parents will kill me." None of the group said anything. Knox sighed in resolve. "All right. You're right. Carpe diem. Even if it kills me."

Amy glanced up at Neil. Their friend was crazy.

Knox put another coin into the payphone and re-dialed Chris's number. "Hello, Chris? This is Knox Overstreet." After a small pause, he put his hand over the receiver and whispered to the others, "She's glad I called." He listened as Chris explained something on the other end. "Would I like to come to a party?"

"Yes," Charlie whispered. "Say yes."

"Well, sure. Okay, great. I-I'll be there, Chris. Friday night at the Danburrys'. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. I'll see you. Bye." Knox hung up the phone and leaned against the wall. "YAWP!"

Everyone laughed at his reaction to a simple phone call.

"Can you believe it? She was gonna call me. She invited me to a party with her."

"At Chet Danburry's house," Charlie told him.

"Yeah."

"Well?"

"So?"

"So, you don't really think she means you're going with her?"

"Well, of course not, Charlie. But that's not the point. That's not the point at all."

"What _is_ the point?"

"The point…Charlie, is, uh…"

"Yeah?"

Knox smiled dreamily. "…that she was thinking about me. I've only met her once, and already she's thinking about me. It's gonna happen, guys. I feel it. She is going to be mine."

Knox flung his scarf around his neck with an overdramatic flair and took off upstairs. The others smiled and called out 'Carpe!' after him.

"He's crazy," Amy said with a shake of her head. "Most girls do not particularly go for guys so soon. It takes a really long time for a girl to admit she likes a guy. Well…a girl in any good relationship anyway."

"Think he has a shot?" Charlie asked.

"After some time…yes. But not right now. Chris really likes Chet. I don't, but she does. And until they break up, she's not going to go for him."

"Why didn't you tell him that?"

"Yeah, right. Why don't you try that and tell me how it goes?"

The boys laughed, all of them knowing full well no one could talk Knox out of his lovestruck stupor.

Amy laughed lightly as she tapped Neil on the arm. "Come on, we should get going."

"Oh, yeah, we don't want to be late. We're blocking the fight with you and Hermia today, aren't we?"

Amy's eyes sparkled. "I can't wait."

"We'll see you guys later."

The boys chorused their goodbyes as Amy and Neil headed off to rehearsal again.

It was then Amy realized just how much she cherished the time she got to spend alone with him. No directors, no Dead Poets, just Neil and Amy walking down the path.

The more time she spent with him, the more she realized it was entirely possible that…she had feelings for him.

* * *

"Let's see here…Mr. Overstreet, Mr. Cameron, and Mr. Pitts, come here please."

The three boys separated from the rest of the class out in the courtyard towards Mr. Keating.

"I want the three of you to just walk around."

"Walk around, sir?" Cameron asked.

"Walk around. No grades at stake, gentlemen. Just take a stroll."

The three boys started walking in a circle around the courtyard. At first, they each walked on their own pace, but very soon, they marched in time with one another.

"There it is," Mr. Keating remarked.

Everyone in the class began clapping to the sound of the boys' marching.

"I don't know, but I've been told!" Mr. Keating chanted.

"I don't know, but I've been told!" the boys repeated.

"Doing poetry is old!"

"Doing poetry is old!"

Mr. Keating began marching with them. "Left, left, left-right-left. Left, left, left-right-left. Left, halt!"

The boys stopped marching and clapping.

"Thank you, gentlemen. If you noticed, everyone started off with their own stride, their own pace. Mr. Pitts, taking his time. He knew he'll get there one day. Mr. Cameron, you could see him thinking, 'Is this right? It might be right. It might be right. I know that. Maybe not. I don't know.' Mr. Overstreet, driven by deeper force. Yes. We know that. All right. Now, I didn't bring them up here to ridicule them. I brought them up here to illustrate the point of conformity. The difficulty in maintaining your own beliefs in the face of others. Now, those of you…I see the look in your eyes like, 'I would've walked differently.' Well, ask yourselves why you were clapping.

"Now, we all have a great need for acceptance. But you must trust that your beliefs are unique, your own, even though others may think them odd or unpopular, even though the herd may go, 'That's baaaaad.' Robert Frost said, 'Two roads diverged in a wood and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference'."

Amy mouthed the words of the poem along with him. She had heard it numerous times growing up and it was one of her favorites. She smiled as she listened to the words her father was saying. He was just as good of a teacher as he was a father. Sacrificing her lunchtime in order to come to this class was well worth it.

"Now, I want you to find your own walk right now. Your own way of striding, pacing. Any direction. Anything you want. Whether it's proud, whether it's silly, anything. Gentlemen…and lady, the courtyard is yours. You don't have to perform. Just make it for yourself."

Amy joined the others walking around the courtyard. She smiled as she noticed some of the extremely ridiculous ways some of them were walking. For her own walk, she walked slowly and breathed deeply, letting the autumn air into her senses. She liked to take things slow and savor the little moments.

"Mr. Dalton? Will you be joining us?"

Amy looked over to see that Charlie was leaning against one of the pillars, content with not walking.

"Exercising the right not to walk," he smiled.

"Thank you, Mr. Dalton. You just illustrated the point. Swim against the stream."

Amy suddenly got the feeling someone was watching her. She looked up towards the school and saw Mr. Nolan looking out of the window of his office down towards the class. The glare he sent her way made her feel small and insignificant. The feeling remained even when he disappeared behind the window curtain.

As Amy continued walking, her steps became less confident and more insecure. What if joining the class was going to get her father in trouble? What if she got lectured by him yet again? What if they refused to ever let her on the grounds after all this?

She was shaken out of her thoughts when a hand slipped through her own. She looked up and found Neil with a small smile on his face.

"This is how I want to walk," he said quietly.

Amy smiled bashfully and prayed that he could not see the possible blush on her cheeks as the two of them walked around the courtyard, hands intertwined.


	7. Chapter 7

"Great work tonight, everyone!" the director announced with a large smile. "This play is coming together very nicely. Before you know it, it will be tech week! Make sure to get some rest and stay hydrated, and be ready to work hard again tomorrow! Remember that leads have costume fittings Thursday night and the rest of you have fittings Friday night. You're dismissed!"

Amy gathered up her things and headed towards the entrance to wait for Neil. After a couple minutes, he hurriedly ran up to her still shoving things into his bag.

"Sorry! Mrs. Burrell wanted to give me some more notes."

"Relax," Amy laughed. "It's not gonna kill me to wait a few extra minutes for you."

"Well, yeah, but it's impolite to make a lady wait."

Amy smiled a little. "I'm sure I will somehow find it in me to forgive you."

The two exited the building and began making their way back towards Welton.

"I love being in this play," Amy said as their pace became slow and casual. "I wouldn't have auditioned if it wasn't for you. Thank you."

"You're a natural. It's almost like you were born for the stage."

"I could say the same for you. If there was ever a role for you to play, it's Puck. Remember when you read for Ariel when we studied _The Tempest_? I think that was just practice for this."

"That was what made me realize performing Shakespeare can actually be fun."

"My dad has a way of doing that for people. When I was growing up, most of the time, my mom and dad would read poetry to me right before bed. But every now and again, Dad and I would read Shakespeare plays together before I went to sleep and do different voices for different characters. Sometimes my mom got mad at him for making me laugh too much when I was supposed to be trying to fall asleep."

"You got Shakespeare as a bedtime story? Most people get _Sleeping Beauty_ or _Snow White_."

"Well, my father never was very traditional."

"That he is not. And we could not be more thankful. It's nice to actually look forward to a class for once."

"I'm pretty sure at least one or two of the guys in that class only looks forward to it because I'm there."

"It's a little bit of both."

"Mr. Nolan must absolutely hate me coming to that class. But he hasn't said anything, and it's been a couple months now. I guess I'm in the clear."

"Mr. Nolan could stand to get an update in his views."

"Yeah, I know, but I can understand not wanting to accept change. Change can be difficult."

"But it can also benefit a lot of people."

"Not to him in this case."

"Well, maybe in the future, we'll get to see the day where girls are accepted to Welton."

"I look forward to that day!"

Neil laughed and took out his copy of the play. "Okay, time to practice lines."

"Do we have to?"

"You know we always practice on the walk home. Besides, I know for a fact you need to go over the fight scene between you and Hermia."

"Okay, okay."

"Let's see…I'll start with Hermia's line: 'What, have you come by night and stolen my love's heart from him'?"

"'Fine, i'faith! Have you no modesty, no maiden shame, no touch of bashfulness? What, will you tear impatient answers from my gentle tongue? Fie, fie! You counterfeit, you puppet, you'!"

"'Puppet? Why so? Ay, that way goes the game. Now I perceive that she hath made compare between our statures! She hath urged her height, and with her personage, her tall personage, her height, forsooth, she hath prevail'd with him. And are you grown so high in his esteem because I am so dwarfish and so low? How low am I, thou painted maypole? Speak! How low am I? I am not yet so low but that my nails can reach unto thine eyes'!"

Amy cried out in pain as if Hermia was attacking her. "'I pray you, though you mock me, gentlemen, let her not hurt me! I was never curst! I have no gift at all in shrewishness! I am a right maid for my cowardice. Let her not strike me'…Um…oh, darn it…wait…ugh, I give up. What's the next part?"

"You perhaps…" Neil started to get her going.

Amy's face lit up as she remembered the line. "'You perhaps may think because she is something lower than myself that I can match her'!"

"'Lower! Hark, again'."

"Good Hermia, do not be so bitter with me. I evermore did love you, Hermia, did ever keep your counsels, never wrong'd you! Save that, in love unto Demetrius, I told him of your stealth unto this wood. He follow'd you. For love I follow'd him, but he hath chid me hence…and threaten'd me to strike me, spurn me, nay, to kill me too. And now, so you will let me quiet go, to Athens will I bear my folly back and follow you no further. Let me go. You see how simple and how fond I am'."

"'Why, get you gone! Who is't that hinders you'?"

"'A foolish heart, that I leave here behind'."

Neil got in really close to her face. "What, with Lysander'?"

Amy looked up at him with a smirk. "'With…Demetrius'."

Neil gasped overdramatically and put his hand to his heart. Amy laughed at his playfulness.

"Okay, my turn," she smiled as she took the script from him. "Let me see. Do the scene right after that. Uh…'my fairy lord, this must be done with haste'."

"Okay." Neil took a second to remember that portion of the play. "'My fairy lord, this must be done with haste, for night's swift dragons cut the clouds full fast, and yonder shines Aurora's harbinger at whose approach, ghosts, wandering here and there, troop home to churchyards. Spirits all, that in crossways and floods have burial, already to their wormy beds are gone for fear lest day should look their shames upon, they willfully themselves exile from light and must for aye consort with black-brow'd night'."

"'But we are spirits of another sort'," Amy read as Oberon. "'I with the morning's love have oft made sport, and, like a forester, the groves may tread, even till the eastern gate, all fiery-red, opening on Neptune with fair blessed beams, turns into yellow gold his salt green streams. But, notwithstanding, haste! Make no delay! We may affect this business yet ere day'."

Neil jumped around her in a circle. "Up and down, up and down, I will lead them up and down! I am fear'd in field and town! Goblin, lead them up and down! Here comes one."

Amy laughed so hard at his weird movements that she couldn't go on. She handed him his script back.

"I can't believe how much fun this is," Neil laughed excitedly.

"Who knew someone from Welton could actually like acting?" Amy teased.

"Yeah, my father's sure to give me an earful if he ever finds out about this."

"Well, maybe once he sees how amazing you are onstage, he'll see that this is your passion."

"My father couldn't care less about my passions. He only cares about making his passions mine."

"Parents tend to do that sometimes. They want to push their unfulfilled dreams onto their kids so it seems like they actually fulfilled them."

"You're lucky your parents aren't like that."

"My mom did try to teach me how to dance because she used to be a dancer. It didn't go well. Granted, I was pretty small, and I was a total klutz."

"You?"

"Shocking?"

"Yes."

By now, the two of them had reached Welton and headed up to their appropriate halls. On the way there, they noticed Todd sitting by himself on one of the walkways.

"Todd?" Neil called as they both walked over to him. "Hey."

"Hey," Todd answered quietly.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing." There was a long pause before he quietly told them, "Today's my birthday."

"Is today your birthday? Happy birthday."

"Thanks."

"What'd you get?"

"My parents gave me this."

Neil and Amy looked at his present sitting next to him. It was a full desk set still wrapped up in the plastic. Amy knew for a fact she had seen the same desk set in his room.

"Isn't this the same desk set—"

"Yeah, yeah. They gave me the same thing as last year."

"Oh…"

"Oh."

Amy realized that she really took her parents for granted more than she meant to. Her mother was incredible and made sure she had everything she ever needed growing up. Her father was one of the smartest people she'd ever known and cared about her more than she could ever understand. Both of them showered her with affection and always made her aware of how much they loved her.

Looking at these two boys with her, she saw that their home life had never been like the easy one she had. Their parents were cold towards them and didn't understand them or just plain didn't care.

Neil laughed lightly, trying to add humor to the awkward situation. "Maybe they thought you needed another one."

Todd smiled at his friend's attempts to cheer him up. "Maybe they weren't thinking about anything at all. Uh, the funny thing about this is I—I didn't even like it the first time."

Neil smiled as he got an idea. "Todd, I think you're underestimating the value of this desk set." He knelt down and picked up the thoughtless present and examined it. "I mean, who would want a football or a baseball, or…"

"Or a car," Todd offered.

"Or a car if they could have a desk set as wonderful as this one? I mean, if I were ever going to buy a desk set, twice, I would probably buy this one both times. In fact, its…its shape is…it's rather aerodynamic, isn't it?" He walked to the edge of the walkway and lifted the desk set in the air a little. "I can feel it. This desk set wants to fly."

Todd smiled broadly as he stood up.

"Todd?" He handed his friend the desk set. "The world's first unmanned flying desk set."

Todd took the desk set and flung it over the edge of the walkway as hard as he could. The three of them began laughing as papers and materials scattered all over the place.

"Oh, my!" Neil exclaimed sarcastically. "Well, I wouldn't worry. You'll get another one next year."

Amy laughed as she looked over at the two boys. Neil really had a way of getting Todd to open up and feel happy again. She liked that about him. No matter how his own life was going, he always tried to make sure that his friends were smiling.

"I better go," Amy told them. "I don't want another lecture from Mr. Hager. Happy birthday, Todd."

"Thanks. Good night, Amy," Todd smiled.

"See you tomorrow," Neil added.

Amy quickly went to the hall where her room was, but she went to her father's room instead of her own.

"Amy?" he said when he saw who entered.

Amy said nothing but went up to him and hugged him tightly.

"Is everything okay?"

"More than okay," she answered quietly. She pulled away and looked up at him. "I'm glad you're my father."

"I'm glad you're my daughter."

"I'm serious. After seeing what some of these boys go through with their parents…I just never realized how lucky I am to have you and Mom."

John smiled at his daughter. "We're lucky to have you, Amy. I love you very much."

"I love you too."

* * *

At dinner in the evening, Amy joined the others boys at their table for some spaghetti and meatballs. By now, the administration didn't glare at her as much and most of the boys didn't stare at her while she ate. They had all gradually become used to her presence in the school.

Of course, that didn't mean the administration liked it.

Everyone at the table decided to eat with their left hand tonight to mix things up and see how poorly it went.

Amy laughed lightly at their fumbling attempts to get the spaghetti onto the fork with their non-dominant hand.

Mr. Hager slowly walked by the table and froze when he saw the fork in Charlie's left hand. Amy didn't miss the cold glare he sent her way. Clearly, he was never going to approve of her presence.

"Mr. Dalton," he said sharply.

Charlie quickly put down the fork and looked up. "Sir?"

"Are you gentlemen all normally left-handed?"

No one desired to answer the man's question.

"Then why are you all eating with your left hand?"

"We thought it would be good to break old habits, sir," Knox answered as he wiped his mouth with his napkin.

"And what's wrong with old habits, Mr. Overstreet?"

"Well, they perpetuate mechanical living, sir. They limit your mind."

"Mr. Overstreet, I suggest that you worry less about breaking old habits and more about developing good study habits, don't you?"

Knox lost his smile. "Yes, sir."

"That goes for all of you." He took the arm of the blond-haired boy sitting at the end of the table and made him move the fork from his left hand to his right hand. "Now, eat with your correct hand."

Everyone at the table slowly transferred their forks to their right hand, including Amy. Mr. Hager sent her another icy glare before moving to the next table.

Charlie looked back at the others and stuck a huge meatball in his mouth. The others laughed at his obvious mockery of Mr. Hager's words.

"How do you guys stand this?" Amy asked them quietly.

"We're men of steel," Knox answered. "We can handle anything."

"I certainly admire you for putting up with this ridiculousness. You can't even eat with the hand you choose here? It's absurd!"

"I'm glad we agree on that," Charlie smirked, having finished eating the giant meatball.

"Hey, Amy, when's your play again?" Knox asked.

Amy looked over at Neil to make sure she got it right. "It's in almost exactly three weeks, yes?"

"Yep!" Neil smiled. "It looks great too. Amy's amazing."

"But I'm not as good as you."

"No, I'm pretty sure you've got me beat."

"Okay, lovebirds," Charlie interjected. "You're both great, how's that?"

Amy involuntarily blushed at the comment.


	8. Chapter 8

After school, Amy and Neil met up with Todd who agreed to help them run lines out in the yard.

"'Here villain, drawn and ready! Where art thou'?" Neil asked as he ran behind a tree.

"'I will be with thee straight'," Todd recited flatly.

"'Follow me then to plainer ground!' I love this!"

"What? The scene?"

"No! Acting! Acting has gotta be one of the most wonderful things in the world! Think about it. Most people, what, if they're lucky, get to live half an exciting life, right? If I get the parts, I could live dozens of great lives! 'To be or not to be, that is the question'!" Neil let out a triumphant scream since he could not possibly contain all of his emotions. "For the first time in my life, I feel completely alive!"

Amy laughed as she followed them down to the small dock sitting on the lake. "You look alive!"

"It's incredible!" He looked over at Todd. "You should come to rehearsal."

"Oh, I should?" Todd asked.

"Yes! It's the best. I know they need people to run the lights and stuff."

"Yeah, I don't—"

"Come on! There's girls. The girl who plays Hermia is incredible. Though she doesn't hold a candle to Amy's performance."

"You flatter me," Amy smiled.

"What's this girl look like?

"What? You're not coming. Forget it," Neil teased.

"No, no…"

"Forget it!"

"I wouldn't allow you to come anyway," Amy smirked. By now, they were all out on the dock. "We can't just ruin the surprise! You can see us in all our glory on opening night!"

Neil laughed. "Let's go back, back, back."

"Oh, um…'follow me to plainer ground…Yea, art thou there'?"

"What?"

"'Yea, art thou there'?"

Neil just stared at him for a second. "Put more into it!" he yelled.

To Amy's shock, Todd yelled at the top of his lungs as he spun around, "YEA, ART THOU THERE!"

"That's it!"

"That's it!"

"'Follow my voice'!"

Amy laughed as they began to mock swordfight.

"'We'll try no manhood here'!"

The two continued yelling their lines until they got to Amy's.

Following the set-up of what they were doing, she smiled and yelled out, "O weary night! O long and tedious night, abate thy hour! Shine comforts from the east, that I may back to Athens by daylight from these that my poor company detest, and sleep, that sometimes shuts up sorrow's eye, steal me awhile from mine own COMPANY!"

The three of them laughed on the dock as they read the lines over and over again, not caring that they weren't saying them in the same way they would later onstage. They yelled them all to their heart's content, feeling completely free.

* * *

Amy sat down in her first period seat next to Chris.

"Where have you been?" Chris asked her.

"I'm sorry?" Amy said confused.

"I just feel like I haven't seen you in a while."

"What do you mean? I've been in class every day."

"Yeah, but we don't exactly get time to talk then, do we? And it doesn't even matter because it doesn't seem like you're totally here anyway. I've only hung out with you at lunch a few times at the beginning of the year, and you haven't been over to my house in ages."

"I'm sorry," Amy apologized. "I've been spending all my time over at Welton."

"Yeah, I know, and I don't know why. Why would you want to be over there so much when you're not welcome?"

"Look, the 45 minutes I get to spend in my dad's classroom during our lunch period is the longest I get to see him sometimes. He's usually busy planning classes or speaking with other students. If I can be with him, even in a class, for a while, I want to take that opportunity."

"I'm sorry, Amy, I didn't realize."

"No, it's okay. I'll tell you what. Once this show is over, I'll have a lot more time on my hands, and I'll come over then, okay?"

"Sounds good."

"You're coming to see it, right?"

"I wouldn't miss it."

"Hey, that party's tonight, isn't it?"

"Yeah! If you get out of rehearsal early, you should come by."

Amy smiled. "Thanks, but I have a meeting tonight after rehearsal I need to go to. But let me know how it is!"

* * *

That night, the Dead Poets Society minus Knox who had gone to Chris's party and Charlie who was who-knows-where all met up in the usual cave and began reciting the opening words:

"'I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life. To put to rout all that was not life…'"

They stopped speaking when they heard the sound of girls laughing outside the cave. All of the boys frantically looked at one another.

"Is this it?" one girl asked.

"Yeah, this is it," Charlie's voice answered. "Go ahead, go on in. It's my cave. Watch your step."

"We're not gonna slip, are we?" another girl said.

"Uh-oh," the first girl laughed.

Two girls wearing tight clothes and lots of makeup stepped into the cave followed by Charlie. The boys looked at the girls in awe as if they had never seen a female before.

"Hi," one of the girls said bouncily.

Pitts shot up and hit his head on the low cave wall. Amy put her hand to her mouth to stifle her laughter.

"Hello," Meeks said politely.

"Hi, you guys," Charlie greeted once he was finally in the cave. "Meet, uh, Gloria and, uh…"

"Tina," the other girl said sharply, offended he had forgotten her name.

"Tina." Charlie pointed to the group. "This is the pledge class of the Dead Poets Society."

The boys chorused their greetings to the new females, and the two girls politely returned the greeting.

"Guys, move, move!" Charlie ordered. "Come on, folks. It's Friday night. Let's get on with the meeting."

The boys moved to let the two girls have a seat towards the end of the cave. Something about their presence made Amy feel a little uncomfortable. They clearly wore more expensive clothes than she did and looked prettier than she did. All of the guys were almost completely enamored with them.

Charlie took a seat next to the girls. "Guys, I have an announcement to make. In keeping with the spirit of passionate experimentation of the Dead Poets, I'm giving up the name Charles Dalton. From now on, call me Nuwanda."

"Nuwanda?" Pitts laughed.

"Nuwanda?" Cameron repeated in disbelief.

As Tina started to put on lipstick, Charlie took it from her hands and drew a strange design on both of his cheeks. It made Amy smile a little to see his eccentrics. He certainly took the Dead Poets to a whole new level.

"We gonna have a meeting or what?" Charlie demanded.

"Yeah, if you guys don't have a meeting, how do we know if we wanna join?" Gloria asked.

"Join?" Neil said in surprise.

He shook his head, and Amy wondered if he felt the same way she did: that these two girls, as nice as they seemed, didn't belong here.

Charlie went over to Tina with a smile. "'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate'."

"That's so sweet," Tina smiled.

"I made that up just for you."

"You did?"

Cameron put his hand to his forehead in exasperation.

 _That's Shakespeare_ , Amy thought to herself.

Everyone knew the famous 'summer's day' sonnet. It was further proof these girls didn't belong in this group.

Charlie went over to Gloria. "I'll write one for you too, Gloria. 'She walks in beauty like the night'." He paused for a few seconds, trying to remember the next line. "'She walks in beauty like the night. Of cloudless climes and starry skies. All that's best, dark and bright, meet in her aspect and her eyes'."

"That's beautiful," Gloria sighed.

 _George Gordon Byron_ , Amy thought.

That one wasn't as obvious as the first one.

But even still, these girls seemed to only like the fact that Charlie was reciting poetry to them about their looks. She wondered if they would be willing to analyze poetry like the Dead Poets sometimes did with the especially good ones and see the deeper meaning behind the words.

"There's plenty more where that came from," Charlie smiled.

Gloria, Tina, and Charlie began puffing on cigarettes, and Amy coughed a little at the horrid smell. The two girls sent her judgmental stares with every cough.

Tina handed Neil a bottle of whiskey. "Go ahead, pass it around."

Cameron motioned for him not to do it, but Neil took a small swig of it before passing it to Amy. Amy didn't take a sip and instead passed it to Todd. She didn't miss Tina's slight scoff.

"Me and Pitts are working on a hi-fi system," Meeks told the girls. "It shouldn't be that hard to, uh, to put together."

"Yeah, uh, I might be going to Yale," Pitts said. "Uh, uh, but I…I might not."

"Don't you guys miss having girls around here?" Gloria asked. She glanced over at Amy and looked her up and down. "I mean…real girls."

Amy looked away from them, taking back every thought she had about them seeming nice. The boys didn't say anything, and the awkward silence continued throughout the cave.

Amy wanted the girls to leave. She wanted this to be a regular meeting where they read poetry together and talked and laughed. And she was tired of feeling inferior to the two newcomers.

"That's part of what this club is about," Charlie said to break the silence. "In fact, I'd like to announce I published an article in the school paper in the name of the Dead Poets."

"What?" Cameron exclaimed.

"Demanding girls be admitted to Welton."

"You didn't," Pitts said.

"How did you do that?" Neil asked.

"I'm one of the proofers," Charlie told him. "I slipped the article in."

"Look, it's over now," Meeks put in.

"Why? Nobody knows who we are."

"Well, don't you think they're gonna figure out who wrote it?" Cameron demanded. "They're gonna come to you and ask to know what the Dead Poets Society is. Charlie, you had no right to do something like that."

"It's Nuwanda, Cameron."

"That's right, it's Nuwanda," Gloria said.

That girl was getting on Amy's nerves the longer time passed.

"Are we just playing around out here, or do we mean what we say?" Charlie asked everyone. "If all we do is come together and read a bunch of poems to each other, what are we doing?"

"All right, but you still shouldn't have done it, Charlie," Neil said firmly. "This could mean trouble. You don't speak for the club."

"Hey, would you not worry about your precious little neck? If they catch me, I'll tell them I made it up."

Neil sighed heavily. "Meeting's adjourned for tonight. We should head back."

Amy never thought she'd be happy to hear those words. She couldn't take this insufferable meeting any longer. It wasn't even a meeting anymore.

Charlie stayed behind with the girls, soaking in all his time with the opposite sex.

Amy was silent for the entire walk back to Welton, something that did not go unnoticed by Neil.

When the school was in sight, Neil pulled Amy back and let the rest of the guys walk ahead of them.

"Are you all right?" he asked her gently.

"I'm fine," she answered without looking at him. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well…those girls weren't exactly nice to you."

"It's not a big deal. Don't worry about me."

Amy started to talk towards the school, but Neil quickly put a hand on her arm and stopped her.

"Hey. It's a big deal to me if they hurt you."

Amy sighed a little. "I won't lie…they did make me feel a little…insignificant. And…I don't know…it just felt like you guys liked them more than me just because they were prettier."

Amy sighed at how childish that sounded.

"They weren't prettier than you."

Amy was a little taken aback at the statement, not expecting Neil to say something like that so bluntly.

"They could've been the most gorgeous girls in the entire universe, and I still wouldn't have been attracted to them. Beauty isn't just on the outside. And those girls certainly were not pretty on the inside."

Amy smiled. "Maybe not…but you saw how much everyone liked them."

"I think they liked them until Gloria insulted you. Let's face it, you are one of our closest friends, and if someone insults you, they insult us."

"Tell that to Charlie."

"Well, you know Charlie."

"Fair enough."

The two of them laughed lightly.

"Look, Amy, you're smart and you certainly have more of a brain than they do. I mean, I wouldn't tell this to the other guys, but they were kind of morons. What person doesn't recognize the famous 'summer's day' sonnet?"

Amy laughed a little. "I had been thinking the same thing."

"Don't compare yourself to them. Because they could never compare to you."

Amy smiled again as she looked towards the school.

Suddenly, Neil gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Amy gasped and looked over at him in surprise, putting her hand to the place where his lips had just been.

Neil's eyes widened in embarrassment. "I…I'm sorry," he stuttered. "I-I didn't think…I mean…"

Amy's cheeks reddened, and she let out a small laugh at his inability to form a sentence. Tucking her hair behind her ear, she lightly giggled as she ran towards the school.

Neil let out a large breath. He wasn't sure if that reaction was good or bad, but he certainly didn't regret what he had just done.

* * *

Early in the morning, Amy went out to the yard by the dock on the lake. She rubbed her arms to warm up, her sweater not providing nearly enough warmth in the brisk air. The sun was still rising causing the sky to be bursting with oranges, pinks, and reds to match the leaves that had fallen on the ground. It was really beautiful.

Amy heard the soft crunching of the frosty grass behind her and saw Neil come up to stand beside her.

"You're up early," he said to her.

"I didn't sleep much."

"Look, Amy…about last night…"

Amy didn't answer for a moment. "I'm really not a morning person. But I love looking at the sunrise. I mean, it's the start of a brand new day. It's like it's welcoming a whole day full of promise." There was a pause before she quietly added, "Anything can happen."

She looked over at him, her eyes nervously darting back and forth. Then she slowly moved closer to him. Her hands slid up to rest on his shoulders. Then she moved her head towards his and closed the gap between them.

Her arms encircled around his neck to pull him closer to her. Their lips caressed one another with a gentleness that could only happen between them.

When they pulled apart, Amy smiled and let out a small laugh. Her hands moved to rest on his chest.

They stayed that way for another few seconds, neither wanting to pull away. Finally, Amy broke out of his embrace to grab her things and get ready for class. She smiled broadly as she gave him one last look before she walked away from him.

Neil watched her retreating form for a moment and then held his arms up in victory.

"YAWP!" he yelled, not caring about the early hour of the morning.

Amy laughed to herself as she heard his victorious cry echo out to join the very promising sunrise.


	9. Chapter 9

When Amy got back to Welton from Ridgeway, she was greeted by Neil under an archway no one passed through at that time of day.

Amy smiled broadly when she saw him waiting for her. After quickly looking around in every direction to make sure no one was watching them, the couple shared a lingering kiss with one another.

"It's a shame we have to do this in secret," she said quietly.

"Should we at least let the others know?"

"I see no harm in that. As long as Charlie promises to keep his mouth shut."

Neil laughed lightly. "About this, he will. We'll make sure of that."

"Where are they?"

"I think everyone's in the study room. Charlie was a bigger idiot than usual today."

"What do you mean? What happened?"

"You know that article he published in the name of the club?"

"Yeah."

"Well, he owned up to it by pretending to get a phone call from God right in the middle of an assembly. Nolan punished him with a paddle if you know what I mean."

Amy grimaced, not able to imagine the pain and humiliation of suffering something like that.

"He's supposed to give up our names, apologize to the school, and they'll forget this ever happened."

"And is he going to?"

Neil smiled a little. "Of course not."

Amy and Neil walked up to the study room to join the others. There were several other boys there Amy knew from her father's class. Charlie was sitting in one of the comfortable chairs and wearing sunglasses with a set of bongos on his lap.

"Hey, Charlie," Amy greeted. "I heard about what happened."

Charlie's eyes sparkled in excitement. "It's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be."

"Oh, really?"

"Creak," he smiled, imitating the footsteps of Mr. Nolan in order to dramatically retell the story. "He started walking around towards my left. Creak. Creak. 'Assume the position, Mr. Dalton'."

The door opened and many of the boys quickly stood up while Amy prepared to get yelled at for being in the study room.

To everyone's relief, Mr. Keating walked in.

"It's all right, gentlemen," he said to the standing boys.

"Mr. Keating," Charlie greeted happily, still sitting in the chair.

Amy watched as her father walked over to him. "Mr. Dalton. That was a pretty lame stunt you pulled today."

The boy completely lost his smile. "You're siding with Mr. Nolan? What about 'Carpe diem' and sucking all the marrow out of life and all that?"

"Sucking the marrow out of life doesn't mean choking on the bone. Sure, there's a time for daring and there's a time for caution, and a wise man understands which is called for."

"…But I thought you'd like that."

"No. You being expelled from school is not daring to me. It's stupid. Because you'll miss some golden opportunities."

Charlie looked down in dejection. "Yeah. Like what?"

"Like, if nothing else, the opportunity to attend my classes. Got it, Ace?"

Charlie smiled again. "Aye, aye, Captain."

"Keep your head about you." Mr. Keating looked at all the other boys. "That goes for the lot of you."

The boys chorused their agreements to his statement.

"Phone call from God," Mr. Keating muttered as he headed towards the door. "If it had been collect, it would have been daring."

Everyone in the room laughed at his words.

The group dispersed until only the Dead Poets were left in the room.

Amy smiled at them. "Before Neil and I head to rehearsal…we have something we want to tell you guys. But you have to promise to keep it a secret. What we're about to say cannot leave this room."

"What is it?" Knox asked.

"We need everyone to promise."

A chorus of 'We promise' echoed throughout the room.

Amy and Neil smiled at each other as Neil took her hand in his.

"We're in a relationship," Amy told them.

The boys began laughing in surprise before standing up and going over to them. They clapped their hands on Neil's shoulders, congratulating him on such a good catch.

"When did this happen?" Meeks asked them.

"Early this morning," Amy answered.

"Kind of last night," Neil added.

"My father doesn't know about this, and I want to be the one to tell him so keep it a secret. Not to mention that if Mr. Nolan finds out about this, he's going to have my head. And that will just get my dad in trouble, and I don't want that and I'm sure you don't either. So please, keep this just between us."

"Dead Poets honor," Charlie said as he raised his right hand.

"Thanks."

"Okay, well, we really gotta go," Neil announced. "It's our last full rehearsal before the show tomorrow night."

"Good luck!" Pitts called out.

"See you all later!" Amy smiled.

"Bye, lovebirds!"

Amy shot Charlie an annoyed playful glare as she and Neil exited the study room.

"I'm gonna have to bike today if we want to make it on time," Neil told her.

"Oh, I hate making you do that."

"Don't worry about it! I need the exercise."

"Fine. If you insist."

Neil retrieved his bike and Amy stood on the two metal rods extending from the rear wheel while holding onto Neil's shoulders to steady herself.

Neil peddled the bike as fast as he could towards Henley Hall. Since the path was pretty flat, it wasn't too hard of a ride but the extra weight did slow him down a little.

Amy laughed as the wind blew through her hair and whistled in her ears.

Neil smiled to himself. He loved hearing Amy's laughter. It was one of the most beautiful sounds to ever grace his ears.

Once they arrived at the school, Neil quickly chained up his bike to the bike rack and they both hurried inside.

The director was working on a scene with Hermia and Lysander. She planned on nitpicking certain scenes that needed work before running the whole show one final time.

Neil smiled as he surveyed the scene. This was where he belonged.

Amy's hand intertwined with his own. He looked over at her to find a smile on her face as large as the one on his.

"It's hard to believe tomorrow's opening night already," she whispered.

"I can hardly wait. It's going to be amazing."

"Yeah. It really will be."

* * *

Once rehearsal was over, Amy quickly changed out of costume and removed her stage makeup.

"Hey, Amy," one of the other cast members called.

Amy smiled a little. "Yeah, Deanna?"

Deanna smirked. "You want to tell me what's going on with you and Neil?"

Amy's eyes widened. "Uh…um…"

"Relax, I can keep a secret."

Amy laughed lightly. "It's just…the headmaster at Welton would kill me if he knew as would most of the teachers. For now, that means we can't go around telling people we're together."

"I see. I admire you for that. It would drive me nuts to have to keep my relationship a secret."

"Well, sometimes it's worth it."

"For the record, it's about time."

"What?"

"I've seen the way you two look at each other since we started rehearsing. I knew this was bound to happen at some point."

Amy laughed as she left the dressing room and went to the school entrance where Neil was waiting for her.

"Ready?" Neil asked.

Amy smiled at him. "Hey…nobody's here…"

Neil smiled as he saw what she was getting at. He stepped closer to her and took his hands in hers before planting a gentle kiss on her lips.

"I wish it could always be like this," she told him when he pulled away.

"Me, too."

"One more?"

Neil kissed her again and both of them made each and every second of the kiss count.

The two of them quickly biked back over to Welton. Amy and Neil parted ways so Amy could see her father and Neil could put his things away before heading down to dinner.

Amy knocked on the door to her father's office. "Daddy?"

"Hey, Amy. How was rehearsal?"

"It was great. The show really looks incredible."

"I'm excited to see it tomorrow. I'll be bringing the boys of course."

"Oh, naturally. It wouldn't be opening night without them."

"I've got some tea here. Would you like some?"

"Yes, that would be wonderful. Is there any food?"

"I brought some spaghetti with me from the dining hall. I have to skip dinner to work."

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I disturbing you?"

"I'm never too busy to spend time with my daughter."

Amy took a deep breath. "Good. I have something to tell you."

As Amy ate the food her father had taken from the dining hall, she explained everything that had happened between her and Neil starting from the moment they met. She told him how much she cared about him and how awful it was to have to hide their feelings for each other.

John smiled as he listened to his daughter talk endlessly about Neil. He hadn't seen her talk so excitedly about something in months. Ever since the move, she had had a lot of trouble adjusting. But all that had changed now.

Amy looked over at the picture of her mother sitting on her father's desk. "Mom would like him, wouldn't she?"

"Yes. And then she would tell you that she was right all along and you shouldn't have moped so much about moving."

Amy rolled her eyes as she smiled. "Yeah, you're probably right. Do you think she'll get to meet him someday?"

"Of course she will."

"…I miss her."

"Yeah. I do too."

The conversation steered more towards her life back in London and the memories they had made over there. Amy realized that she hadn't talked to her father like this since the move. She had either been busy with classes or Dead Poets or was simply avoiding the hateful gazes of the teachers. She had really missed being able to have this conversation with him and talk freely with him without any concern for the time or teachers or classes or anything else.

There was a knock on the door.

"It's open," Mr. Keating called.

Neil slowly came into the office and closed the door behind him.

Amy smiled broadly at him. "Hey."

"Neil, what's up?" her father asked.

Neil shook his hands nervously. "Can I speak to you?"

"Certainly. Sit down."

"Oh, do you want me to give you some privacy?" Amy asked.

"No, you can stay," Neil answered.

"Okay."

Neil went to go take a seat on the empty chair next to the desk, but he saw that there were books in it. He bent down to pick them up. Mr. Keating quickly hopped up when he saw the problem.

"I'm sorry," Neil laughed lightly. "Here."

Mr. Keating took the books from his student and put them down on the table. "Excuse me. Get you some tea?"

"Tea. Sure."

"Like some milk or sugar in that?" he asked as he poured him a cup.

"No, thanks." He looked around the cramped office. "Gosh, they don't give you much room around here."

"No, it's part of the monastic oath. They don't want worldly things distracting me from my teaching."

Neil took a seat as Mr. Keating handed him his tea.

"I heard you and Amy are in a relationship as of this morning."

The boy visibly tensed up.

"Relax. I'm not going to give you the third-degree. What kind of teacher would I be if I encouraged independence in the classroom and not in my own home? I raised her, and I trust her to make the best decisions in her life."

"Thank you, sir." He looked over at the photo of Amy's mother. "She's pretty."

"She's also in London. Makes it a little difficult."

"How can you stand it?"

"Stand what?"

"You can go anywhere. You can do anything. How can you stand being here?"

"Because I love teaching. I don't want to be anywhere else."

Neil fell silent for a moment.

"What's up?"

"I just talked to my father. He's making me quit the play at Henley Hall."

"What?" Amy exclaimed quietly. "But you've worked so hard."

"Yeah…Acting's everything to me. But he doesn't know. He…I can see his point. We're not a rich family like Charlie's, and we…But he's planning the rest of my life for me, and…he's never asked me what I want."

"Have you ever told your father what you just told me?" Mr. Keating asked gently. "About your passion for acting? You ever show him that?"

"I can't…"

"Why not?"

"I can't talk to him this way."

"Then you're acting for him, too. You're playing the part of the dutiful son. I know this sounds impossible, but you have to talk to him. You have to show him who you are, what your heart is."

Amy's heart broke as she saw the tears forming in his eyes. She moved her chair closer to him and took his hand, rubbing comforting circles on the back of it.

"I know what he'll say," he said tearfully. "He'll tell me that acting's a whim, and I should forget it. That how they're counting on me. He'll just tell me to put it out of my mind for my own good."

"You are not an indentured servant. If it's not a whim for you, you prove it to him by your conviction and your passion. You show him that. And if he still doesn't believe you, well, by then you'll be out of school and you can do anything you want."

Neil quickly wiped a tear away from his cheek. "No. What about the play? The show's tomorrow night."

"Well, you have to talk to him before tomorrow night."

"Isn't there an easier way?"

"No…"

Neil laughed bitterly. "I'm trapped."

"No, you're not."

Amy looked at the boy across from her sadly. "I'll walk you back…"

The two of them exited the small office as Mr. Keating watched dejectedly. He held a special bond with his students and when one of them hurt, he hurt too. It hurt especially with Neil because he knew that he had a closer bond with him than his other students. Not only was he now in a relationship with his daughter, but he was the first of his students this year to open his heart up to him.

He just hoped everything worked out in the end.

Amy and Neil reached the hall where Neil's room was, having walked in silence until now.

"Won't Mr. Hager get mad if he sees you?" Neil asked her.

"I don't really care right now. I should be fine though. Mostly everyone's still at dinner so he'll be there for at least a few more minutes."

"…Thanks."

"I take it your dad doesn't know about us?"

"He'd kill us both."

"We're going to have to tell him eventually."

"Let me focus on one problem at a time."

Amy nodded a little. "Okay."

The two of them walked into Neil's room. Todd was still gone so they were alone.

"No matter what happens, I'm on your side," Amy said softly. "I'm always on your side."

"I know."

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Hey, Amy?"

Amy turned to face him.

"I know this may seem a little soon, and we haven't really known each other that long…I mean, we only confessed that we liked each other this morning. But…carpe diem." After a small pause, he said to her, "I think I'm in love with you."

Amy's eyes widened as her heartbeat sped up. She couldn't find words for a moment.

"Neil…" she finally said quietly. "We've only known each other for a few months."

Neil looked away from her. He almost wished that he could take back what he said since it didn't seem that she was ready for such a confession. But she needed to know how he really felt about her. After what had happened tonight, he didn't want to hold anything back.

"But I think I'm in love with you too."

Neil's head shot up to look at her. She gave him a small smile before gently closing the door to the room. Then she walked over to him and threw her arms his neck as she kissed him firmly.

After several breathless kisses, she pulled away from him breathing heavily.

"I need to go," she told him, her forehead pressed against his. "Before Todd and Mr. Hager return."

Neil kissed her once more. "Go."

Amy went over to the door. She turned around and smiled at Neil before quickly leaving the hall in order to avoid the prying eyes of the other boys and the strict lectures from the faculty.

Once back in her own room, Amy leaned against the closed door and sighed happily.

There was absolutely nothing like being in love.


	10. Chapter 10

Amy sat in her classroom ready to start the day.

Ever since last night, she kept replaying Neil saying he was in love with her over and over again. Pretty much nothing had been able to keep her from smiling.

She looked at the empty seat next to her. Chris hadn't arrived yet which was odd since she was usually here before her.

Just as the bell rang, her blonde-haired friend ran inside the room and took her seat.

"Hey, what kept you?" Amy asked.

"It's nothing," Chris answered a little too quickly.

Before Amy could respond to her friend's shortness, the door opened again. Amy expected the teacher to come in, but her eyes widened at the sight of Knox entering the room. He boldly walked over and stood in front of Chris's desk.

"Knox, I don't believe this," Chris said quietly.

"All I'm asking you to do is listen," Knox told her. He opened a piece of paper and the class quieted as everyone listened to him, curious as to what the boy was going to say to the girlfriend of Chet Danburry. "The heavens made a girl named Chris…with hair and skin of gold. To touch her would be paradise."

Amy put her hand to her mouth as she listened to Knox read his poem to Chris. Chris put her hands to her head in embarrassment.

Once Knox finished reading the poem, he made his way to the door. He turned back for a second to look at the girl he loved so much. Then he met Amy's eyes and smiled when she winked at him.

Chris furiously turned to Amy. "Did you know about this?"

Amy put her hands up in surrender. "No, I had no idea. But come on, you have to give him credit for trying."

"Do you know what Chet will do to him if he finds out about this? It's like he has a death wish!"

"Yeah, I heard things got a little aggressive at your party."

"Exactly. He's going to kill him!"

"Look, Chris, I know Knox is being a little bit…forward. But believe me, he does care about you. A lot. Don't turn your back on him so quick. If anyone will treat you right, it's him."

"I'm dating someone right now!"

"Yeah, I know. But in the end, I think you should consider who's better for you."

* * *

In Mr. Keating's class that afternoon, he distributed blindfolds to everyone and then started a song on his record player.

The students allowed their bodies to feel the music as they immersed themselves into complete darkness.

"Words can never contain as music does," Mr. Keating's voice reached all of them towards the end of the song. "The 'unsayable' grace that cannot be defined. It leaps like light from mind to mind. That's it for today, boys. Keep it in there."

Amy removed her blindfold and gathered up her things. She started to exit the room when she realized that Neil hadn't moved, and he still had his own blindfold on. She looked up at her father and met his concerned gaze. John went over to him and sat on the chair in front of him while Amy stood next to him so that she was facing Neil.

Mr. Keating smiled for a moment when Neil still didn't remove the blindfold. "Did you talk to your father?"

Neil jumped a little at the sound of his voice and quickly removed his blindfold, his eyes squinting in the new light. "Yeah," he answered hesitantly.

"What'd he say?"

"Uh, he didn't like it one bit…but at least he's letting me stay in the play. He won't be able to make it. He's in Chicago. But, uh, I think he's gonna let me stay with acting. "

"Really? You told him what you told me?"

"Yeah. He wasn't happy. But he'll be gone at least four days. I don't think he'll make the show, but I think he'll let me stay with it. 'Keep up the school work.' Thanks."

Mr. Keating gave him a small nod.

Neil quickly gathered up his books and left the room. Amy followed after him to head back towards Ridgeway.

"You didn't tell him, did you?" she asked as she caught up with him.

Neil looked at her guiltily.

"I know you, and I know when you're lying." After a small pause, she said quietly, "Look, I don't approve of the decision, but to be honest…I probably wouldn't have told him either if I was in your position."

"Really?"

"Why don't we just deal with this once the show's over? Then we'll also find a way to drop the whole relationship thing on him."

"Okay."

"Cheer up. It's opening night. After months, we finally get to perform what we've worked so hard on. I'll see you tonight, okay?"

"Yeah."

"I wish I could kiss you right now."

"Me too."

"Can I at least see you smile before I go?"

Neil laughed lightly. "Hurry, before you're late for class."

Amy smiled back at him. "Bye."

* * *

Neil and Amy had to be at Henley Hall earlier than usual in order to run through a couple scenes to touch up the timing and lighting and then get into costume.

Ten minutes before the curtain opened, the director gathered everyone into the greenroom.

"All right, everyone! This is it! Opening night!"

All of the cast members cheered in excitement.

"I'm so proud of each and every one of you. You have all worked very hard, and I'm extremely pleased with how this show has turned out. Thank you all for your efforts! Break a leg tonight! Places for Act One!"

Amy released a large breath. "I'm really nervous," she confessed to Neil. "This is my first time ever performing onstage."

Neil took Amy's hands. "You are a wonderful Helena, and you're going to be amazing. Take a deep breath and go out there and give it your all."

Amy smiled. "Thank you. You're going to be wonderful as well, Puck. I'd kiss you if we didn't have to keep this a secret."

"I don't think we'll be keeping it a secret much longer."

"Oh?"

Neil laughed. "You have to go, or you're going to miss your cue."

"Okay, okay. Break a leg!"

Amy hurried off to go backstage to wait for her cue to go on.

With a deep breath, she went out onstage.

"God speed fair Helena! Whither away?" Hermia asked her.

Amy scoffed. "Call you me fair? That fair again unsay. Demetrius loves your fair. O happy fair! Your eyes are lode-stars, and your tongue's sweet air more tuneable than lark to shepherd's ear when wheat is green, when hawthorn buds appear. Sickness is catching! O, were favour so, yours would I catch, fair Hermia, ere I go. My ear should catch your voice, my eye your eye, my tongue should catch your tongue's sweet melody. Were the world mine, Demetrius being bated, the rest I'd give to be to you translated. O, teach me how you look, and with what art you sway the motion of Demetrius' heart."

"I frown upon him, yet he loves me still."

"O that your frowns would teach my smiles such skill!"

"I give him curses, yet he gives me love."

"O that my prayers could such affection move!"

"The more I hate, the more he follows me."

"The more I love, the more he hateth me!"

"His folly, Helena, is no fault of mine."

"None, but your beauty! Would that fault were mine!"

John smiled in the audience as he watched his daughter shine onstage. He hadn't realized just how much she was meant to perform. The role of Helena was perfect for her. She was usually pretty quiet and reserved, but this role showed just how free she could be if she only allowed herself to be.

"She's really good," Todd whispered to him.

"Yeah, she's hysterical," Charlie added with a smile.

The show continued on and it went almost perfectly. There were one or two lighting problems and one missed prop, but overall, everything was going fairly well for opening night. Amy and Neil watched each other from the wings when they weren't onstage, pride welling up in each of them for the other.

About 30 minutes into the show, Amy came up next to Neil in the wing as they prepared to go on.

"It's going great, huh?" she whispered with a broad smile.

Neil kept his gaze locked to the back of the auditorium.

"What's wrong?"

When she followed his line of sight, she saw him looking at a very stern man standing in the back behind all the seats. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized who that must be.

"Is that your father?" she asked.

Neil nodded grimly.

"What is he doing here?"

"I don't know."

"Well…the show must go on. We'll deal with him afterward, okay?" She looked towards the stage. "That's your cue. Go."

Amy nervously bit her lip as she looked back at Neil's father. His face seemed to be locked into a look of disappointment. She wondered if he had ever laughed in his life. It was no wonder Neil couldn't talk to him about his passion for acting. It would be difficult to talk to him, period.

She took a deep breath, trying to pull herself together again before she went out onstage for the scene between her and Demetrius.

She silently prayed that Neil's talent would speak for itself and show his father just how much he was willing to pursue acting.


	11. Chapter 11

Soon the final monologue was upon them. Neil went out onstage and a spotlight singled him out as he turned to face the audience.

Because Amy was so close with him, she could see how nervous he was about his father watching him. It was barely noticeable, but it was there.

"If we shadows have offended, think but this, and all is mended. That you have but slumber'd here while these visions did appear. And this weak and idle theme, no more yielding but a dream, gentles, do not reprehend. If you pardon, we will mend. And, as I am an honest Puck, if we have unearned luck, now to 'scape the serpent's tongue, we will make amends ere long. Else the Puck a liar call. So, good night unto you all. Give me your hands, if we be friends, and Robin shall restore amends."

Neil put his hands in front of his face and backed upstage as the curtain closed and the audience burst into applause. Amy quickly approached him, noticing just how much more nervous he had become as he realized he would now have face his father.

"Hey," she said gently. "You did great. It's gonna be okay."

The other cast members frantically got into place for bows. Once the curtain opened again, everyone grabbed hands and took a bow as the applause got louder.

Two of the actors pushed Neil forward and he took another bow himself. Amy smiled and clapped for him.

Then to her surprise, he turned around and smiled at her as he extended his hand towards her. Her eyes widened for a moment before she smiled broadly and took his awaiting hand. He pulled her next to him, and the two of them took a bow of their own.

Only a couple of the cast members had problems with it. Everyone else was too excited because like Deanna, they had seen this coming since the first week of rehearsal.

Amy heard a loud cry of 'YAWP!' from the audience and laughed at the reaction from the boys she had become so close to in the last several months.

The curtains closed once more to separate the cast from the audience. Amy looked at Neil and smiled as she threw her arms around his neck excitedly. The rest of the cast hugged one another, congratulating themselves on a very successful opening night.

"We did it!" she laughed.

"Yes, we did! WHOO!"

"Amy, you were amazing!" Deanna told her.

"Thank you!" Amy replied. "You were too! I'm sorry if I scratched you during the catfight."

"Oh, don't worry about it. Makes it more authentic, don't you think?"

Amy laughed again. "Very true."

"I take it you and Neil aren't keeping your relationship a secret anymore?"

"I guess not."

"You didn't know he was going to do that?"

"No! But I'm glad he did. Maybe now we can stop hiding at least a little."

"I'm happy for you, Amy. Neil's a sweet guy. You deserve each other."

"Thank you."

As Neil and Amy happily accepted congratulations from various cast members, the director quickly approached Neil.

"Neil," she said almost sympathetically. "Your father…"

Neil's smile quickly faded.

"I'll come with you," Amy told him.

"That's probably not a good idea."

"He knows about us now. I don't want you to face him by yourself."

Neil sighed. "I could use the support."

"Let me get changed, and I'll be right out."

"Thanks."

Neil and Amy quickly changed out of their costumes and gathered up all of their belongings.

Right before they stepped out from behind the curtain, Amy stopped him. "No matter what happens…just promise me that you'll talk to me tonight. Whether that means you come to my room, or you call the school phone, or you send a paper airplane through the window…promise me that I'll hear from you tonight."

"I will."

"…I love you."

"I love you too."

"Okay. Then let's go."

Taking his hand in hers, the two of them came out from behind the curtain and immediately saw Neil's father still in the back of the auditorium looking extremely unhappy.

Neil gave him a small smile, but the smile quickly disappeared from his face.

"Take a deep breath," Amy said quietly.

The two of them walked to the back of the auditorium, hands intertwined.

Amy looked up at Neil's father nervously, but she could not maintain eye contact for very long under his very penetrating and judgmental stare.

"Sir, I—" Amy started.

"Save it," he snapped, cutting her off. "Were you the one who talked him into this whole ridiculous acting nonsense?"

"Actually, sir, he—"

"We're leaving."

Neil's father took his son's arm, forcing him to let go of Amy's hand. Neil looked back at her apologetically before following his father out the door.

Amy stared after them sadly. Then she quickly followed after them.

Neil's father quickly shoved people out of his way, hastily trying to get to the exit. "Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me."

"Neil, Neil, you were great," Charlie praised when the boys saw him coming out.

"I can't, guys," Neil told them quietly.

They finally made it outside and Mr. Perry angrily began ushering his son to the car.

"Neil! Neil!" Mr. Keating called as caught up with him. "You have the gift. What a performance. You left even me speechless. You have to stay with—"

Mr. Perry came up to them and shoved Neil away as Amy ran up to stand next to her father.

"Get in the car," Mr. Perry ordered. "Keating, you stay away from my son." He glared harshly at Amy. "Both of you."

"Neil!" Charlie called. "Neil! Mr. Perry, come on!"

Mr. Keating quickly pulled him back. "Don't make it any worse than it is."

Amy watched Neil's hopeless face as the car drove away from the theater. John wrapped his arm around his daughter, knowing she was probably feeling even worse than he was. He couldn't imagine being told to never again see the person one loved.

They were both really nervous about what was going to happen to Neil in the next few hours.

"Hey, Amy!" Charlie called to her.

Amy turned around, hoping she could mask her nervousness. "Yeah?"

"All of us chipped in and bought these for you." He handed her a bouquet of flowers.

Amy gasped as she took them. "Thank you so much, you guys."

"You were incredible!" Knox told her.

Chris tightly hugged her. "I had no idea you were such a great actress!"

"I'm glad you could make it," Amy smiled. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get out of the cold."

The boys and Chris laughed and began to walk back to the school.

Amy remained rather quiet, unable to get the look on Neil's face out of her head.

* * *

Neil shamefully followed his father up the stairs to his house and into the study. His mother was already sitting down, looking just as nervous as he felt.

Neil took a seat in the other chair as his father stood next to his desk and faced him.

"We're trying very hard to understand why it is that you insist on defying us," he said sternly. "Whatever the reason, we're not going let you ruin your life. Tomorrow I'm withdrawing you from Welton and enrolling you in Braden Military School. You're going to Harvard, and you're going to be a doctor."

"But that's ten more years," Neil said in horror. "Father, that's a lifetime!"

"Oh, stop it! Don't be so dramatic. You make it sound like a prison term. You don't understand, Neil. You have opportunities that I never even dreamt of, and I am not going to let you waste them!"

Neil furiously stood up. "I've got to tell you what _I_ feel!"

His mother stood up as well to try to somehow ease the situation. "We've been so worried about—"

"What?" his father shouted over her. "What?! Tell me what you feel!"

Neil stared at his angry father, trying to come up with words.

"What is it?"

He paused and looked to his mother, noticing her eyes were tearing up.

"Is it more of this—this acting business? Because you can forget that. And the same goes for that girl! You are never to see her again!"

Neil sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing." He dejectedly sat back down on the chair.

His father scoffed lightly in front of him. "Nothing? Well, then, let's go to bed." He quickly left the study and headed up to his bedroom.

His mother started to leave as well but paused behind his chair and slowly knelt down behind it.

"I was good," Neil whispered without looking at her. "I was really good."

His mother looked at him sadly. "Go on, get some sleep."

After a few minutes, Neil slowly went up to his bedroom. His pajamas, bathrobe, towel, and shaving kit had all been laid out for him on the bed.

He took off his coat and set it on the bedpost before removing his shirt.

Then he went over to the windows and opened them, letting the cold winter air rush across his bare chest. It provided him with little relief from the war going on in his head.

He took the crown used in the show and put it onto his head then slowly let his head fall onto his chest. It was an exercise they had used in rehearsal that was supposed to help one relax before the intensity that came with rehearsing a show. It helped him calm his nerves about what he was going to do.

He took the crown off and then slowly opened the door to his room. Being careful to not make a sound and wake up his parents, he traveled down the stairs back to his father's study.

Taking out the key from the secret hiding place he had discovered when he was young, he opened one of the drawers on his father's desk. He reached in and took out a bundle of cloth.

Neil could not live like this any longer.

A life without Welton? A life without Mr. Keating and the other boys? A life without the Dead Poets? A life without acting? A life where he studied for hours to be something he didn't want to be?

…A life without Amy?

He couldn't do it.

He opened the bundle of cloth and picked up the small pistol wrapped inside.

 _Forgive me, Amy_.

He raised the weapon to his temple.


	12. Chapter 12

Amy paced around in her room, still in her clothes. She knew she should've gone to sleep hours ago, but she was too nervous.

Something just didn't feel right.

She could see light start to come in through the window that proved just how long she had been awake. Despite not sleeping for nearly 24 hours, she wasn't in the least bit tired. Not when she felt so agitated for some unknown reason.

The sun was hidden behind the morning clouds that had brought about a new thick layer of snow during the night. Instead of a sunrise, all that came with the morning was a depressing gray.

There was a soft knock on her door around 6:00 AM that shook her out of her thoughts.

"Come in," she called.

Knox slowly entered the room, not noticing that she hadn't changed from the night before.

"Hey, have you heard from Neil at all? He told me he'd talk to me last night, but I never heard from him, and I'm really worried." She stopped when she noticed his ashen face and slowly approached him. "Are you okay?"

Knox swallowed thickly. "Neil went home with his father last night. His parents went to sleep, but there was a noise. They found him…in his father's study…with a pistol…"

Amy suddenly couldn't find air. It was as if the entire room had suddenly closed in on her with the sole purpose of suffocating her.

"Neil's dead."

"No…" Amy said quietly with a smile that tried to hide her emotions. "No, he…he said he loved me. He…he wouldn't do this to me."

"Amy—"

"No! No, you're…you're wrong!" Her eyes welled with large tears, and she couldn't get oxygen into her lungs. "You're wrong…"

Knox quickly ran forward and pulled her into his arms as she began wailing. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed against his chest, unwilling to believe that the boy she loved was dead.

* * *

Todd slowly opened his eyes when he felt someone gently shaking him out of his sleep. He drowsily turned to see who had woken him up.

"Oh, Charlie," he groaned.

It was way too early for anything Dead Poets related. Didn't Charlie know that some people still needed sleep? Not everyone was as gung ho about Dead Poets as he was.

He tiredly turned back over and attempted to go back to sleep. Charlie quickly put his hand on him again and forced him to get up. Todd looked up at Charlie and noticed a tear running down his cheek.

"What is it?" he asked in surprise.

He looked over towards the door and saw Meeks and Pitts with sad expressions on their faces. Knox was holding Amy as she cried onto his shoulder.

Something had to be really, really wrong for them to wake him up with these reactions.

"Neil's dead," Charlie whispered.

Amy let out another sob at the awful words she had to hear for the second time.

With everyone except Amy still in their pajamas and coats, they followed Todd as he numbly walked outside the school into the falling snow. He hadn't said a word yet, and the others looked at him with concern, not exactly sure how he was reacting to the news.

He stopped a few feet away from the school and looked around him with a small smile. "It's so beautiful," he remarked softly.

The other boys stared at him sadly. His mind wasn't completely processing what had happened. He was almost in a state of shock.

Then the reality of everything hit him. He started gagging for a couple seconds before he fell onto his knees and vomited into the snow.

"Todd!" Charlie exclaimed.

Everyone ran up to him and knelt down next to him. Knox hugged him from behind while Amy gently put her hand on his shoulder, tears still pouring from her eyes.

"It's okay, Todd," Charlie cried. "It's all right, Todd."

"Todd, it's okay," Knox mustered out. "It's okay, Todd."

"It's all right. It's all right."

Charlie grabbed a handful of snow and wiped Todd's mouth with it. The boy began to sob and shake.

"He wouldn't—He wouldn't have done it," he said quietly in hysterics.

"You can't explain it, Todd," Meeks told him.

"It was his father!"

"No!" Pitts exclaimed.

"He wouldn't have left us. It's because he…He wouldn't have. His dad was…his—his father did it."

"Todd," Charlie said gently, trying to get him to calm down.

"His father killed him. He made him do it."

Todd pushed himself out of the boys' grasps and stumbled down the hill, tripping and falling a couple times and getting covered in snow.

"Todd!" Meeks called.

"Leave him be!" Charlie insisted.

As Todd continued down the hill, he let out a loud and pained scream that reached down to Amy's chest. She stood up with the other boys and watched him make his way down to the dock where just a couple weeks prior, she, Todd, and Neil had run lines together for the show.

Amy began to sob again. Knox gently put his arm around her shoulder, allowing her to cry onto him once more.

* * *

Since it was a Saturday, Amy did not go to Ridgeway that day. The remaining run of _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ had been cancelled because even though Neil had an understudy, no one could do the show with the knowledge that their lead and friend had just recently killed himself. Amy couldn't get up on that stage again to perform even if she wanted to. She may be a talented actress, but there was no way she could pretend to be in love with someone when the person she really loved was dead.

To think that she had been so happy the night before as she and Neil ran through the whole show together, each excited when they saw the other performing.

She didn't realize that so much could change in just a few short hours.

Amy went up to Todd's room in search of the book of poems Neil used during their Dead Poets Society meetings. She wanted something…some piece of him to hold onto.

"Hey, Todd," she called softly as she entered his room. "I, um…I…"

She faltered when she looked over at Neil's bed which still had his sheets and blanket on it. He would never again sleep in that bed.

"I…"

She couldn't go on.

She fell to the floor in tears. Todd quickly hopped off the bed and rushed over to her, comforting her in the same way the other boys had done earlier for him.

Amy clutched onto him, her knuckles turning white. Her cries reached the others and before she knew it, Knox, Charlie, Pitts, and Meeks were also on the floor rubbing her arms.

"It's okay, Amy," Charlie said softly. "It's okay."

* * *

Once Amy had collected herself again, she passed by her father's classroom to look for the book and was about to enter when she saw him staring at Neil's desk. After a moment, he opened the top of the desk and pulled out one of the books. Amy recognized it as the book they read poems from during Dead Poets Society meetings. The one she had been looking for.

Her father opened the book and sat down at the desk. She saw him read the inscription, his favorite poem by Thoreau that they recited at the beginning of every meeting. Then he put his hands to his face and started sobbing.

"Oh, Daddy!" Amy said quietly as she rushed into the classroom.

She wrapped her arms around him, rubbing her hand up and down his arm, tears once again finding their way to her own eyes as well.

The two of them remained in the classroom in silence for several moments, neither able to say any words to ease the pain.

* * *

The administration at Welton did not let Amy attend the memorial service on Neil's behalf. She wanted to believe that it was because the students were already distracted enough and her presence would just make things worse, but she was fairly certain it was more than that.

That afternoon, the Dead Poets met up in one of the small supply closets waiting for Cameron. Amy's eyes were red and swollen by now and she remained silent. She didn't have the energy to tease the others about their current smoking habits like she normally would.

"You told him about this meeting?" Charlie asked.

"Twice," Pitts answered.

"That's it, guys. We're all fried."

"How do you mean?"

"Cameron's a fink. He's in Nolan's office right now finking."

"About what?"

"The club, Pittsie. Think about it. The board of directors, the trustees, and Mr. Nolan. Do you think for one moment they're gonna let this thing just blow over? Schools go down because of things like this. They need a scapegoat."

The door opened, and the boys quickly put out their cigarettes and waved their hands in the air in a futile attempt to get rid of the smell. A small light turned on and Cameron slowly walked in.

"What's going on, guys?" he asked nonchalantly.

"You finked, didn't you, Cameron?" Charlie said lowly as he stood up and walked over to him.

"Finked? I don't know what you're talking about."

"You told Nolan everything about the club is what I'm talking about."

Cameron's nonchalant demeanor broke, and he pointed an accusing finger in Charlie's direction. "Look, in case you hadn't heard, Dalton, there's something called an honor code at this school, all right? If a teacher asks you a question, you tell the truth or you're expelled."

"You little—"

Charlie lunged for him, but Meeks and Knox quickly held him back from attacking his 'friend'. Cameron took a nervous step back while Todd and Amy stood up in alarm.

"He's a rat!" Charlie yelled. "He's in it up to his eyes so he ratted to save himself."

"Don't touch him, Charlie," Knox said firmly. "You do and you're out."

"I'm out anyway!"

"You don't know that! Not yet."

"He's right there, Charlie," Cameron told him. "And if you guys are smart, you will do exactly what I did and cooperate! They're not after us. We're the victims. Us and Neil."

"What's that mean?" Charlie asked. "Who are they after?"

"Why, Mr. Keating, of course! The 'Captain' himself! I mean, you guys didn't really think he could avoid responsibility, did you?"

"They think my father's responsible for this?" Amy asked quietly.

Cameron glared at her. "Yeah, and he's not the only one."

Amy looked at the other boys in horror.

Charlie glared at Cameron in disbelief. "Mr. Keating and Amy responsible for Neil? Is that what they're saying?"

"Well, who else do you think?!" Cameron yelled. "The administration? Mr. Perry?"

"Yes!" Amy exclaimed.

"Mr. Keating put us up to all this crap, didn't he? And Amy had to fill his head with lovestruck nonsense! If it wasn't for Mr. Keating and Amy, Neil would be cozied up in his room right now studying his chemistry and dreaming of being called 'Doctor'."

"That is not true, Cameron, and you know that!" Todd exclaimed desperately taking a step forward. "He didn't put us up to anything! And Neil loved acting! And you know that he really loved Amy even more!"

"Believe what you want, but I say let the Keatings fry! I mean, why ruin our lives?!"

Charlie turned and lunged towards Cameron and punched him hard in the face. Cameron flew back and knocked down some of the items in the room. Meeks and Knox pulled Charlie away from him.

Cameron touched his bloody nose and glared up at Charlie. "You just signed your expulsion papers, 'Nuwanda'." He slowly got up to his feet. "And if the rest of you are smart, you'll do exactly what I did. They know everything anyway. You can't save the Keatings…but you can save yourselves."

Amy took a couple steps forward and glared at him which was quite frightening as none of them had ever seen her so angry before. "Okay, you know what? I don't go here."

Without warning, she delivered a second punch to Cameron's face. Knox quickly pulled her away as well, but not as forcefully as he had with Charlie.

"Stop, Amy, you'll only make it worse," he told her.

"It can't get any worse!" Amy cried turning to face all of them, her eyes glassy. "Look, it's no secret that most of the administration doesn't exactly approve of me or my father's teaching methods, especially the fact that he let me sit in on one of his classes. And now with a confession? We don't stand a chance."

Amy tearfully ran out of the room. Suddenly, all of the boys wished it had been him who punched Cameron. Or more accurately, they all wanted to deliver one separate punch. Or multiple ones.

Amy ran down the halls and out of the school, not caring who saw her. She raced out of the building to greet the cold winter air. With only a sweater on, she quickly became very chilled, but she didn't care.

Once far enough away from the school, she looked up to the sky with tears running down her face.

Then she screamed. She screamed and screamed and didn't stop screaming until she had completely run out of breath. Then she screamed again.

Once she was spent, she collapsed onto the ground in sobs, the snow soaking into her clothes.

"Amy!"

She looked beside her to see Todd kneeling next to her. He gently draped his coat around her shoulders.

"Don't listen to what Cameron said."

"But he's right!" she cried hysterically, her voice hoarse after all the screaming. "I loved him! I was supposed to be there for him! I should've known! I should've stopped him! The one person I've ever loved is dead and it's my fault!"

Todd took Amy up into his arms and let her cry. In this state, she would never listen to anything he said so all he could do was remain quiet and let her cry out her emotions. Once she had calmed a little more, he would try to help talk her down.

As he held the sobbing girl, one thought went through his mind: he would never forgive Cameron for this.


	13. Chapter 13

Amy walked into the theater where _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ had been playing and was supposed to play for one more weekend. She couldn't understand how something that had brought her so much joy now represented the worst moment of her life.

When she walked in, the theater was cold, dark, and empty. Quite similar to how she was feeling inside.

All of the set pieces remained in their places from yesterday.

She traveled backstage towards the dressing rooms. The costumes were still hanging up as if the theater itself was in denial about not running the show anymore. She went towards her own costume at first, but then stopped. Instead, she exited the girls' dressing room and entered the boys' dressing room. She knew that there wouldn't be anyone in there and even if there was, they wouldn't be changing.

Like she predicted, the room was empty. She slowly made her way over to the place where Neil's costume hung. His pants, grey shirt, and gloves all remained in the room. She remembered he had taken his crown home with him last night.

She slowly slipped her shirt off her body and replaced it with Neil's shirt. She hugged herself, breathing in the scent of the shirt which still smelled like him. It almost felt like he was hugging her again.

She returned to the girls' dressing room and put on the leggings she wore under her costume. Then she flipped on some of the stage lights and went out onstage.

The lights shined brightly in her face, nearly blinding her. She didn't care.

She went to one of the wings and picked out a record, then placed it on the record player. After positioning the needle down on the record, music floated out to the stage and across the auditorium.

 _Oh oh oh_

 _Oh oh oh_

Amy went out on to the stage and began to dance in her bare feet.

 _When you commit to a path_

 _I guess you were on your own  
_

 _Follow your dreams to a place, a space, the grace, that takes you home  
_

 _You don't have to tell me once, or twice, wonder why we're here  
_

 _We just gotta stop the flood, before we lose it all and drown from fear_

She didn't care that she never had dance lessons aside from what she had learned from her mother as a child. She just did whatever came to her. Anything to let loose all of the awful feelings inside her.

 _But let me tell you  
_

 _I'm ready to fly  
_

 _I've survived through rainstorms, sandstorms  
_

 _I've fought the war  
_

 _Now it's time to go home_

As the chorus of the song came, the drums and instruments in the background soared and she danced even harder. Sweat began to pour down her face and her muscles quickly began to ache, but she took no notice of the pain.

 _Let me tell you  
_

 _I'm ready to fly  
_

 _I've survived through rainstorms, sandstorms  
_

 _I've fought the war  
_

 _Now it's time to go home  
_

 _It's time to go home  
_

 _It's time to go home_

Amy used all of the props and set pieces still onstage to propel her dancing. With each line of the song and each made-up dance move, she could feel her anger and hurt flow out of her. Not all of it, but some.

 _Walking through the dark, alone, no clothes, striking a light_

 _Burning for the heat, the fire, the sparks, the love to keep me alive_

 _I'm captured for a gift, the thrill is how they live_

 _One way track, to heard and to forgive_

 _So I lift my head, open my arms, give the swords in my heart_

At the next chorus, Amy ran and hopped up onto one of the set pieces before proceeding to dance as wildly as ever.

 _I said let me tell you_

 _I'm ready to fly  
_

 _I've survived through rainstorm, sandstorms  
_

 _I've fought the war, now it's time to go home  
_

 _It's time to go home  
_

 _It's time to go home_

The bridge came. Her dance calmed a little more, allowing her body to relax for only a moment. She stepped down from the set piece and slowly danced around the stage using her arms as well as her legs to move.

 _Pick me up off of the desert, feed me water, walk me through the hills_

 _Wait until the sun shines upon us, as we cross the haunted hills_

 _Pick me up off of the desert, feed me water, walk me through the hills_

 _Wait until the sun shines upon us, as we cross the haunted hills_

The song picked up again and Amy danced harder than she had ever danced before. She didn't think, she just moved. She let her body guide her all around every inch of the stage, her hair whipping around her as she moved. It stuck to her sweaty face and blocked some of her vision. She didn't bother to move it.

 _It's time to go home_

 _It's time to go home_

 _It's time to go home_

On the last line of the song, Amy reached her arms up to the ceiling, almost as if she was trying to grasp onto Neil's soul and bring him back. Then she leaned over as she brought her hands close to her chest. For her final move, she threw her body into the air and came crashing down onto her feet.

Her lungs felt like they were going to burst, and her legs had never been so sore. Sweat poured from her body from the sheer exertion of the whole dance.

She looked up when she heard footsteps.

"Mrs. Burrell!" she exclaimed when she saw who it was. She quickly stood up in embarrassment, still breathing heavily. "I'm sorry! I-I know no one's supposed to be here right now! I just…I…"

"I think…under the circumstances…I can look the other way," the director said gently.

Amy looked down for a moment.

"That was some interesting dancing you did. Have you ever taken dancing lessons?"

"My mom was a dancer. She taught me a little when I was younger."

"Well, your footwork was a bit messy, and your coordination could use some work, but overall, you have potential. Have you ever considered taking dance lessons?"

"No."

"You should. You'd be good at it."

Amy nodded a little but didn't say anything else.

Mrs. Burrell looked at her sadly. "How are you doing, Amy?"

Amy sighed and gave her a pained smile. "The administration blames me and my father for everything."

"What? That's ridiculous!"

Amy didn't reply.

"Amy…that's ridiculous."

"…But what if it's not?"

"Amy—"

"No! I loved him. I was supposed to be there for him! I should've known something wasn't right. What if I had called his house? What if I had just gone over there? I should've done something for him! Anything!"

"Amy…if you keep thinking about the 'should-haves' and the 'what-ifs', you'll torture yourself. None of us could've seen this coming. Not even you. You cannot blame yourself for this. He wouldn't want you to."

Amy shook her head. "I still feel so responsible."

Mrs. Burrell slowly came up to her. "Don't. It's not your fault."

Amy's eyes watered. "I just miss him."

"I know. I do too."

Amy slowly left the stage and returned the clothes to the appropriate dressing room before putting her shirt and coat on and exiting the theater.

"Amy?"

Amy looked over to see Chris running up to her.

"I've been looking everywhere for you!" Before Amy could say anything, Chris enveloped her in a tight hug. "I heard about what happened."

Amy loosely returned the hug, but she still didn't say anything.

"I'm so sorry."

"…Why did he have to leave me?"

Chris continued to hug her friend, unsure of how to respond to the heartbroken question.

"I'm going to miss him."

"I know. It's going to be okay."

* * *

Todd's heart was heavy as Mr. Hager escorted him to Mr. Nolan's office. He was nervous and agitated about what was going to happen. What could he say that would help Mr. Keating keep his job here? What could he say to let them see that Amy wasn't responsible?

When he entered the office, he was surprised by who he saw.

"Hello, son," his father said without a smile.

"Hello, darling," his mother added.

"Mom," Todd breathed.

The whole situation suddenly became much harder and for a moment, he felt like he could not get enough oxygen. With his parents here in the room, he didn't know how he was going to handle this.

The door closed behind him, effectively trapping him inside.

"Have a seat, Mr. Anderson," Mr. Nolan ordered.

Todd slowly took the empty seat in front of the headmaster's desk.

"Mr. Anderson, I think we've pretty well put together what's happened here. You do admit to being a part of this Dead Poets Society?"

Todd felt like his mouth and throat were full of cotton, and he could not articulate words under Mr. Nolan's penetrating gaze.

"Answer him, Todd," his father told him.

Todd forced his mouth to move. "Yes, sir," he answered barely audibly.

Mr. Nolan put on his glasses and glanced down at a piece of paper before removing his glasses again as he spoke. "I have here a detailed description of what occurred at your meetings. It describes how your teacher, Mr. Keating, encouraged you boys to organize this club and to use it as a source of inspiration for reckless and self-indulgent behavior. It describes how he also encouraged you to let his daughter attend these meetings as well despite knowing our feelings about having her interact with the students here. It describes how Mr. Keating, both in and out of the classroom, and his daughter encouraged Neil Perry to follow his obsession with acting when they knew all along it was against the explicit order of Neil's parents. It was Mr. Keating's blatant abuse of his position as teacher that led directly to Neil Perry's death."

None of this was true. Todd wanted to protest, but he couldn't speak. He pulled at his collar, suddenly feeling very hot despite it being rather chilled in the room.

Mr. Nolan looked over at Todd's father who passed his son another sheet of paper.

"Read that document carefully, Todd," Mr. Nolan told him. "Very carefully."

Todd looked at the paper in horror. The four other boys had already signed it. There was one empty blank saved for his signature.

How had this happened? How had Mr. Keating and Amy been blamed for the death of his best friend? Mr. Keating clearly only wanted what was best for his students and Amy had loved him. How had it come to this?

Mr. Nolan held a pen out for him. "If you've nothing to add or amend, sign it."

Todd looked up at him as he drew in a shaky breath. "What's going to happen to Mr. Keating and Amy?"

His father sighed loudly next to him. "I've had enough. Sign the paper, Todd!" he snapped impatiently.

Todd slowly took the pen from Mr. Nolan. He looked down at the sheet of paper in his shaking hand.

This was all wrong.

 _Forgive me, Mr. Keating_.

It wasn't supposed to be this way.

 _Forgive me, Amy_.

He lowered the pen to the paper.

* * *

 **The song Amy dances to is "Journey (Ready to Fly)" by Natasha Blume. I know that it wasn't even close to being written at this time period, but there was no other song I knew (especially in this decade) that accurately captured all of Amy's feelings at the moment and was intense enough for her to dance out her emotions.**


	14. Chapter 14

Amy sat on her bed hugging her knees to her chest, anxiously awaiting the verdict from the administration. Even though she already knew what it was going to be.

She longed to see the other boys. She wanted to know what had happened to them. She wanted to know what exactly had happened in Mr. Nolan's office. She wanted to be with her friends and mourn alongside them. She wanted anything other than to be alone.

But they were currently forbidden from speaking with her and would be expelled if they were caught doing so.

Charlie had already been expelled for punching Cameron on her and her father's behalf. She wished she had gotten the chance to thank him for that.

There was a soft knock on her door.

"Come in," she said quietly.

Her father slowly walked into the room. "Hey, hon."

Amy got up off the bed. "So what happened?"

With a heavy sigh, he told her, "I've been dismissed, and we're expected to be off the grounds by tomorrow afternoon."

Amy nodded. She had known that was coming, but it still stung to hear it.

Her father came over to her and hugged her. "I'm so sorry. If I had known all of this was going to happen, I would've let you stay in London with your mother."

"No," Amy mustered out. "I wouldn't give up my time here for anything. I got to experience what it was like to fall in love, and I've made friends here better than any friends I made back in London. I would never wish away my friendship with those boys."

"I heard about what you did to Mr. Cameron."

Amy grimaced. "Daddy…"

"I don't approve of that. Violence is never the answer, and you know that. But when we're hurting, our judgment is clouded. I won't let you off for it…but for right now, I'm not going to worry about it."

"I didn't mean to. I was just so angry at him. The way he blamed you and me for Neil's death…I couldn't just stand there and take it."

"Sometimes, the strongest people are the ones who know when it's best to remain silent in the midst of adversity."

Amy smiled a little. "Even now, you're going to use the power of words over me."

"Always."

"Are we heading back to London then?"

"I've managed to get in contact with your mother and the Chester School. She's preparing the house, and they are willing to let me continue teaching there after the winter break. We'll figure out what we're going to do next year. You're going back to your old school, and it looks like you'll be graduating from there after all in the spring."

"Will we ever come back here?"

"Maybe someday."

* * *

Amy headed over to Ridgeway to get all of her possessions from her locker. At the sound of footsteps, she turned to see Chris walking towards her.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class?" Amy teased with a small smile.

"You're leaving?" Chris asked softly.

Amy nodded. "The administration fired my father, believing the both of us were responsible for Neil's death, so we're heading back to London."

"I can't believe it. It seems like you were here for a lot longer than just a semester."

"Yeah…"

"I'm really going to miss you, Amy."

"I'll miss you too."

"Will you write me?"

"Of course. What are you going to do about Knox?"

Chris sighed a little. "I wish I knew the answer to that. I know I'm dating Chet right now, but there's just something about Knox that's…different. In a good way."

Amy smiled sadly. "Promise me that even if you stay with Chet, you'll be there for him after I leave?"

"I'll be there for all of them if they let me." Chris tightly hugged her. "I can't believe my best friend is going halfway across the world…"

Amy gasped lightly. "I'm your best friend?"

Chris pulled away and looked at her in disbelief. "Of course you are! I've never been closer to someone than I am with you. You make me laugh, you understand me, you give great advice. I couldn't ask for anyone better."

Amy smiled. "You're my best friend too."

The two girls hugged once more, holding on to each precious second they were able to see each other before the ocean parted them.

* * *

Amy knocked on the door to her father's office. "Daddy?"

When she opened the door and stepped inside, her heart panged at the sight of all the packed up boxes. The room felt empty and hollow.

Her father turned around with a sad smile. "Are you all packed up?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Let's start taking everything out to the car."

"All right."

Amy returned to her room and began carrying the boxes of her possessions out to her father's car. There wasn't a whole lot since she had only planned on staying for the school year, but it still took several trips to get everything out of the room.

Once the last box had been taken out to the car, Amy looked at the empty room with the ugly yellow-colored walls. When she had first gotten here, she wanted nothing more than to go back to London. Now she would give anything to stay.

With a final sigh, she closed the door to the room.

Her father exited his room down the hall. "I just need to swing by my classroom and pick up some things I left in there, and then we'll be ready to go."

"Okay."

The Keatings slowly walked down the hallways as if trying to stay in the school as long as they possibly could.

Once they approached the classroom, John quietly knocked on the door. It felt strange to knock on the door of the place that had been his and his students' sanctuary all year.

"Come!" Mr. Nolan barked from inside, seeing as he was currently teaching the class until next semester.

John opened the door and walked inside with Amy behind him. "Excuse me," he said quietly. "I came for my personals. Should I come back after class?"

"Get them now, Mr. Keating."

John and Amy walked towards the front of the classroom to the small supply closet where the last remaining items sat that proved the Keatings were ever at Welton.

None of the boys, especially the Dead Poets, could make eye contact with either of them.

"Gentlemen, turn to page 21 of the Introduction," Mr. Nolan ordered. "Mr. Cameron, read aloud the excellent essay by Dr. Pritchard on 'Understanding Poetry'."

"…That page has been ripped out, sir," Cameron answered.

"Well, borrow somebody else's book."

After a slight pause, Cameron said sheepishly, "They're all ripped out, sir."

Inside the supply closet, Amy shared a small smile with her father, recalling how he had made his students rip out all of the pages of the Introduction.

"What do you mean they're all ripped out?" Mr. Nolan laughed in disbelief.

"Sir, we, uh…Actually—"

"Never mind." The headmaster walked over to Cameron's desk and slammed his own textbook on top of it. "Read."

John put on his scarf and gathered up his possessions. Then he lightly hugged Amy to let her know everything would be okay. While hugging, the two of them looked out and made eye contact with Todd. They both gave him warm smiles, but Todd quickly looked away from them in shame.

"'Understanding Poetry, by Dr. J. Evans Pritchard, Ph.D.'," Cameron read. "To fully understand poetry, we must first be fluent with its meter, rhyme and figures of speech, then ask two questions: 1) How artfully has the objective of the poem been rendered and 2)…"

He stopped reading for a moment when he saw Amy and Mr. Keating exit the supply closet.

"'…How important is that objective'?" he continued. "'Question 1 rates the poem's perfection. Question 2 rates its importance. And once these questions have been answered, determining the poem's greatness becomes a relatively simple matter. If the poem's score for perfection is plotted on the horizontal of a graph'—"

"Mr. Keating! Amy!" Todd exclaimed, bolting up from his seat before they got to the door. The two of them turned to look at the boy in surprise. "They made everybody sign it!"

"Quiet, Mr. Anderson!" Mr. Nolan ordered.

"You gotta believe me! It's true!"

"We do believe you, Todd," Mr. Keating answered gently.

"Leave, Mr. Keating," Mr. Nolan said firmly.

Todd frantically turned to him. "But it wasn't their fault!"

"Sit down, Mr. Anderson!"

Todd reluctantly sat down, looking as if he was about to cry.

"One more outburst from you or anyone else, and you're out of this school! Leave, Mr. and Miss Keating."

Amy was stunned. She had never seen Todd raise his voice like that at anyone except the Dead Poets, much less the headmaster of the school.

Mr. Nolan glared at them. "I said leave, Mr. and Miss Keating."

Mr. Keating and Amy slowly turned around and began to head towards the door once again.

"O Captain! My Captain!"

John froze while Amy whipped around. Todd was proudly standing on top of his desk looking at the Keatings with firm resolve. John turned around to look at his former student and a shadow of a smile appeared on his face.

"Sit down, Mr. Anderson." Mr. Nolan ordered. "Do you hear me? Sit down! Sit _down_!"

Todd ignored him and continued to stand on his desk.

"This is your final warning, Anderson! How dare you! Do you hear me?"

Knox climbed up on top of his desk as well. "O Captain! My Captain!"

Mr. Nolan glared and came over to his desk. "Mr. Overstreet, I warn you! Sit down!"

Pitts, Meeks, and several other students followed suit and stood on top of their own desks as they turned and faced the two Keatings.

"Sit down! Sit down! All of you! I want you seated! Sit down! Leave, Mr. and Miss Keating! All of you, down! I want you seated! Do you hear me? Sit down!"

Some of the boys took deep breaths before going for it and standing on their desks. By then, half the class was standing above the heads of the others. Even Hopkins, who Amy had been sure hated her father's class, stood on top of his desk.

Amy wasn't surprised to see that Cameron had not joined them.

Mr. Nolan realized who the boys had pledged their allegiance to, and it wasn't him.

Amy felt two tears run down her cheeks, but for the first time in a while, they were tears of happiness.

These boys, especially the Dead Poets (minus Cameron at this point), were more than just friends. They were her family.

"Thank you, boys," Mr. Keating said with tears in his own eyes. "Thank you."

Amy smiled at them all. She made eye contact with Todd who seemed to smile even more when he looked at her.

 _Thank you_ , she mouthed to him.

He gave her a small nod in reply.

John and Amy Keating left the classroom, their hearts no longer feeling so sorrowful and empty.

Her father put his arm around her as they walked to the car.

Amy knew it would take a while for the pain in her heart to be gone, but she knew that somehow, someday, everything would turn out okay.


	15. Epilogue

Amy slowly walked into the classroom she had not seen in decades. Many memories came back to her, good ones and bad ones.

She made her way over to one particular desk and lightly ran her fingers over the surface.

"Amy?"

Amy looked to the doorway to see her husband standing there. She smiled sadly. "It's been almost twenty years, and I still miss him."

"Yeah. I do too."

Her husband was well aware that a piece of her heart would always belong to the boy she had fallen in love with in high school. He understood that and was okay with it. They both knew that she had to move on.

Never once during their marriage had had he ever doubted for a second that her love for him as her husband was genuine.

"How are Neil and Charlotte?" she asked him.

"Well, Neil is a bit nervous, but he's making friends with his roommate. Charlie's already started flirting with several of the guys."

Amy laughed. "We named them well."

Todd smiled at her as he stepped inside the classroom. "We certainly did."

"This place is so much better since they replaced Nolan as headmaster. And since they started letting girls attend. I'll feel better knowing Neil and Charlie have each other."

"Charlie will look out for her brother. If she's anything, she's protective of him."

Amy made her way towards the front of the room where the large teacher's desk sat. "It seems like it's been ages since we were all in this class together. And at the same time, it doesn't seem like it was that long at all."

"Tell me about it."

"I feel like we at his funeral just yesterday. The cancer hit him so fast."

Todd looked at his wife sadly, recalling every moment he had watched his beloved teacher deteriorate and eventually lose his life to the deadly disease.

"I know."

The two of them stayed silent, paying their respects to the two individuals they had both cherished so much.

"By the way, Knox and Chris are here with Kate and Reagan," Todd told her, breaking the silence. "They want to see you before we leave."

Amy smiled. "I can't believe Knox actually married her. And we all thought he was crazy."

"Charlie's here too with John."

Amy's eyes lit up. She felt extremely honored that Charlie had named his son after her father. And if anyone deserved the name, it was his son. The boy was the epitome of everything that people loved about her father.

"What about Pitts and Meeks and their wives and kids? Are they here?"

"No, they're sending their kids off to a different school closer to home."

"We should get going soon. You start teaching on Monday, Mr. English Teacher."

"And you, my dear, have rehearsals tomorrow night."

"Right. Oh, and don't forget, I'm starting to teach those dance classes next month."

"I didn't forget. Well, let's go say good-bye to Neil and Charlie."

Amy's eyes sparkled as she looked at the teacher's desk. "What do you say? For old times' sake?"

Todd rolled his eyes. "That thing won't support both of us."

"Sure it will."

He couldn't help but smile. "Okay."

The two of them climbed up and stood on top of the desk, looking out on to their old classroom.

"The view's changed," Amy remarked.

"We've changed."

Amy took Todd's hand in her own. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"On the count of three."

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

The two of them took deep breaths, and then…

"YAWP!"


End file.
